Rihanna confirms she turned down Superbowl halftime show because of Colin Kaepernick

Rihanna has confirmed that she turned down the opportunity to perform at the Superbowl Halftime Show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick.

Considering the show attracts audiences of around 100 million, there is no denying that rejecting the NFL was a bold decision - but one that the 31-year-old knew she had to make.

She revealed as much in an interview with Vogue for their November issue published on Wednesday.

"Absolutely," the megastar responded when asked if she really turned down the NFL in a bid to show support for Colin Kaepernick and his cause. "I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There are things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way."

For those who need their memories refreshing on the whole Kaepernick-NFL conflict, it all began in 2016, when the athlete made a public statement about the prevalence of racial profiling in his country.

With the intention of protesting against the police brutality that many people of colour face in the United States, he refused to stand while the national anthem played, kneeling down instead. And it wasn't long before ordinary people, high profile figures, media outlets and whole organisations began weighing in on the situation and whether or not Kaepernick was right to do what he did.

In any case, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers after the close of the 2016 season in order to become an unrestricted free agent. He had planned to find other roles within the NFL - but the offers never came.

Since 2017, Kaepernick has been without a team, apparently due to being "black-balled" from the NFL for his actions.

In the last couple of years, Kaepernick has continued with his activism and promoting important causes. He also became the face of a Nike ad campaign, which saw "record engagement".

While Kaepernick has definitely kept himself occupied over the years, he is still waiting for his next opportunity in the NFL.