Why Pink Turned Down The 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Singer Pink opened up about her decision to turn down an offer to perform the halftime show at the 2020 Super Bowl. The star – whose name is often stylized as P!nk – got candid about the huge show, confirming that she was offered the slot to perform in front of billions of people watching around the world but turned it down.

The star made the confession during a candid new interview with Billboard posted online on October 31. She admitted that her desire not to subject herself to the public scrutiny that comes along with the performance as well as her support for football player Colin Kaepernick fueled her decision to decline the opportunity.

“Everybody that does it gets so persecuted,” Pink told the outlet, referring to the avalanche of public scrutiny that can often hit artists who perform the big Super Bowl halftime show, often through social media platforms.

She then showed her support for Kaepernick, who famously took a knee during the performance of the U.S. national anthem during games to protest police brutality. Pink admitted that she probably would have also dropped to her knee had she decided to perform.

“I’d probably take a knee and get carried out,” the mom of two said.

Pink then went on to share who she thinks should perform during the big show in February, speaking before it was confirmed that both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira would be joining forces for the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. It is set to take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida on February 2, 2020.

“They should give it to Janet Jackson. That’s who should be doing the Super Bowl,” the “Raise Your Glass” singer said. “There’s rumblings around J. Lo, Rihanna — they all deserve it. They should only give it, because of the controversy, to African-American or Latina women for a while.”

But while Pink’s confessing that she has no plans to ever take on the Super Bowl halftime show, she has performed at the big football event before – and faced some flack on social media afterwards.

Last year, the singer took to the field before the game to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” and later hit back on Twitter after a troll claimed she “sucks.”

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1,000 times. Pink sucks and if you like her singing you’re dumb #SuperBowl,” the hater wrote on the social media site in the wake of her national anthem rendition.

But the star wasn’t about to take the unnecessary criticism lying down.

“Yeah but at least I suck while singing our country’s national anthem, and you just suck by yourself on a dirty couch. #winning,” Pink clapped back.

The star’s latest comments on turning down the show come shortly after Entertainment Tonight reported earlier this month that both she and Rihanna had both turned down offers from the NFL and CBS.

Citing a source, the site claimed at the time that Rihanna also opted out to show her support for Kaepernick. The insider alleged that “because the negotiations took so long, both women decided to move on.”