Steve Stoute Claims Drake Turned Down Super Bowl Gig Twice, Praises Jay-Z For Not Choosing Himself
Several outlets reported that Drake was never offered the opportunity, conflicting with multiple claims stating otherwise.
Steve Stoute is the latest person to claim Drake turned down the Super Bowl Halftime Show while also defending Jay-Z’s handling of the big event.
On the latest episode of The Pivot, the legendary music executive spoke on the Super Bowl Halftime Show and the rumors about the 6 God turning down the offer to perform on the big stage. Stoute claimed Drizzy did, in fact, pass on the opportunity, and if he did do it, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj would’ve joined him. He also brought up how no one is speaking about Jay-Z not picking himself and using the moment as a form of self-satisfaction.
"I will confirm: Drake was offered the Super Bowl twice," said Stoute. "Drake did turn down the Super Bowl twice. And I'm sure if Drake would've said yes, he would've brought Lil Wayne out at some point, right? He probably would've brought out Nicki, which is probably why she's upset because she's not on the stage. But Drake turned it down twice. So, like, this, 'the NFL, somebody spoke to' – No. He turned it down twice, which is fine. He didn't want to do it.”
He continued, “But nobody's going to say, 'Damn, why'd you turn it down? You could've got Lil Wayne on.' Right? Nobody's going to connect that dot. The other thing that no one seems to think about is why isn't Jay-Z picking himself? Like, he's not even being selfish about it for himself. Why isn't somebody saying, 'Man, you know what, he's actually making a decision based on what he thinks the best performance is at the right time, music, et cetera'? Because he's not even using this moment to satisfy himself.”
Stoute added that Hov has a whole catalog of hits that could be performed at the Super Bowl but people should celebrate that he isn’t being “selfish” and actually helping artists by giving them what they deserve. According to Stoute, people criticizing Jay is “corny” and leaves a “stain” on the Black and hip-hop communities.
Stoute’s comments come after conflicting reports emerged about Drake turning down the Super Bowl. Jamil “Mal” Clay was the first to claim Drake passed on the Super Bowl several times, which Elliott Wilson later confirmed via his sources. However, a Bloomberg report also claimed that NFL insiders shot down the rumor that Drake was offered the Super Bowl gig by calling it a "blatant lie."
