When Jennifer Lopez revealed that the NFL tried to remove “kids in cages” from halftime the day before the Super Bowl
Four years have passed since the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, which featured Jennifer Lopez and Shakira as co-headliners – a historic performance.
But as we know today, the show almost looked completely different, just because of the strong political statement Lopez wanted to make with it.
NFL tries to change Jennifer Lopez’s Super Bowl halftime show
In the Netflix documentary “Halftime,” Lopez reveals that the NFL tried to censor one of the most powerful moments of her Super Bowl performance: the section in which her daughter Emme sings “Let’s Get Loud” from a cage – an alleged dig at the Trump administration’s immigration injustices.
“We left rehearsal and I could tell everyone was freaking out, but I don’t know why. I got a call from (manager) Benny (Medina) and he said, ‘They want to remove the cages,'” Lopez explains in the film.
“That night, the NFL brass saw it for the first time and said, ‘Hey, you can’t do that.'”
Benny Medina, Lopez’s longtime manager, elaborates on the NFL’s resistance.
“The NFL had real concerns about making a political statement on immigration,” he says.
“They looked at the plans and the message was clear. They didn’t want those cages on the show. That was from the highest authority.”
But Lopez refused to give in.
“For me, this is not about politics, it’s about human rights,” she says. “I’m at the biggest crossroads of my life: I want to perform on the biggest stage in the world, but taking out the cages and sacrificing what I believe in would be like I’d never been there.”
In the end, Lopez stood her ground. “Part of me got really quiet and I just thought, ‘Benny, I don’t care what you have to do, we’re not changing the show. The Super Bowl is tomorrow and we’re not changing anything,'” she says.
Jennifer Lopez calls co-headlining gig with Shakira the “worst idea in the world”
Lopez’s battles with the NFL didn’t end there, however. The singer was also frustrated by the decision to hire two co-headliners for the halftime show, which she called “the worst idea in the world.”
“If it was going to be a double headliner, they should have given us 20 minutes,” Lopez says in the documentary. “They damn well should have done that.”
Lopez’s concerns stemmed primarily from the time constraints to which both artists were subject.
In one scene, Shakira expresses her uncertainty about how much time each of them will get: “I know the Super Bowl people want us to be on the show for the entire show. I haven’t had any confirmation yet on how many minutes I’ll have.”
Lopez responds: “Let me address this real quick. You said 12 minutes. I got some kind of confirmation that we could have a minute or two longer, so we’re at about 13, 14 minutes now. I think Shakira, we should have half the time and I should have half.”
Medina also expressed his disappointment that his client had to be in the spotlight.
“Usually there is a headliner at the Super Bowl,” he says.
“That headliner is creating the show, and if they decide to invite additional guests, that’s their decision. It was an insult to say you need two Latinas to do the job that historically has been done by one female artist.”
Ultimately, Lopez refused to compromise her artistic vision, even in the face of the NFL’s demands.
The cages remained in the performance and the show was able to continue as planned, taking into account the time constraints that Lopez had fought against.
In the end, Lopez’s Super Bowl halftime show received widespread praise for its powerful political message and celebration of Latin American culture.
The cages, which many interpreted as a commentary on the Trump administration’s immigration policies, became one of the performance’s most memorable moments.
The NFL’s attempts to censor Lopez’s message ultimately failed, and the singer’s refusal to back down cemented her reputation as a fearless advocate for human rights and social justice.
As Medina puts it, “The message was clear.” And in the face of the NFL’s demands, Jennifer Lopez made sure that message was heard loud and clear.
