Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez announces the opening of the 40/40 Club at The Palazzo in Las Vegas, Sept. 6, 2007 (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) / Halftime show at the Super Bowl, Feb. 13, 2022 (AP Photo/Jane Kalinowsky, File)
Three days before Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar put on an iconic hip-hop halftime show at Super Bowl LVI that left many fans feeling nostalgic and many rightwingers fuming, Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez went on record to address a popular sentiment — that Roc Nation and its billionaire founder, hip-hop icon and entrepreneur Jay-Z, are being used to repair the NFL’s image of racism and discrimination.
In 2019, Roc Nation and Jay-Z signed a deal with the NFL to produce its Super Bowl halftime shows. It had been three years since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racism and police brutality. No team in the league since then had agreed to sign Kaepernick. Jay-Z’s decision to partner with the NFL drew accusations that he had sold out Kaepernick.
According to Perez, Roc Nation made the “difficult decision” to partner with the NFL because the company thought it was the “right” thing to do “to make change.” Rihanna decided against performing at the 2019 halftime show in solidarity with Kaepernick. Maroon 5 played to mostly negative reviews.
“It was more than a rough patch. And it was a difficult decision for us. They were being accused of all these terrible things that we stand against. We had to say, ‘Wow, they’re being boycotted by artists,’” Perez told the Los Angeles Times.
“But we obviously decided for going after what we feel is right and what we think we can do to make change,” Perez continued. “Let’s say for a second that this was a cynical move by the NFL — they just wanted to use us [to repair the league’s image]. OK. As long as we can go in and do things they would not normally do — if we can reach people that we normally wouldn’t reach with a message — then that for us is success.”
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The CEO of Roc Nation made the comments after former Miami Dolphins Coach Brian Flores filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL for racism and discrimination in hiring coaches.
Although 70 percent of the NFL’s players are Black, there are currently only two Black head coaches – Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Lovie Smith of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith was just hired as the head coach.
There are also no Black majority NFL team owners. Perez addressed Flores’ lawsuit, telling the Los Angeles Times she “wouldn’t be shocked” if some NFL owners don’t “want a Black coach.”
She also noted she could see how Flores’ lawsuit could be seen as “mixed messaging” by the NFL and a direct indication that the progress Roc Nation claims to want to make is not happening, but she thought it was a more valuable strategy to keep “that chair in the room.”
“Maybe some people wish we would say, ‘We’re not gonna have anything to do with halftime unless you hire 10 Black coaches,’” Perez said. “But I don’t know that that’s realistic. … I want to keep that position that I have to make that phone call. If tomorrow I find out something crazy, then I can pick up the phone and say, ‘Excuse me, Roger, what is going on? Is that really your policy?’”
Twitter users weighed in, with many criticizing Perez’s comments as disingenuous.
“Propaganda Translator says: ‘America has been racist forever and plans to do nothing to repair the damage but will continue to remind you of it to serve many purposes, and btw Jay Z is still really cool. Message received,” @leahharmony wrote.
User @Engineervlsi tweeted, “there’s more to be gained by ‘keeping that chair in the room.’ For whom?”
“This sh*t is still so crazy to me. Kap was black listed and it would have been a statement for one of the biggest / most influential labels to take a hard stance but nope. They did business with them,” @tiwaworks1 wrote. “Since then has there been any drastic changes? Only more accusations of racism.”
One user brought up the time Perez spent as a government informant. “Wonder how difficult it was for her to snitch,” @ReelMusik tweeted. Another user, @jonnymac187 agreed, writing, “That was the comment I was looking for.”
IN THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS:
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg perform during halftime show during the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Recording artist Beyonce Knowles, left, Desiree Perez, and Juan Perez, co-owner of 40/40 Club, appear at a press conference announcing the opening of the new 40/40 Club at The Palazzo in Las Vegas, on Sept. 6, 2007. President Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 140 people in a last-minute clemency flurry after midnight on Wednesday, including Desiree Perez, CEO of Roc Nation. Perez was arrested in 1994 for drug possession and in 1998 for grand larceny and possession of a firearm. In 2019, she was named head of the entertainment company founded by rapper Jay-Z. The pardon mentions that “Perez has taken full accountability for her actions and has turned her life around. She has been gainfully employed and has been an advocate for criminal justice reform in her community.” (AP Photo/Jane Kalinowsky, File)
