"They F**ked Up": Lil Wayne won’t forgive NFL for Super Bowl snub, declares he’s done with halftime performances

Lil Wayne, a New Orleans native and one of hip-hop’s most enduring figures, has opened up about the emotional sting of being passed over for the NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2025 — a year that saw the event land right in his own backyard at Caesars Superdome. Despite his deep ties to the city and global stature in music, the slot went to Kendrick Lamar, and for Wayne, the decision was more than just a missed gig — it felt personal.

In a candid cover story interview with Rolling Stone, Lil Wayne didn’t hold back as he described the emotional rollercoaster of expecting, hoping, and ultimately losing out on what would have been a monumental hometown moment. “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect,” Wayne said, voicing his decision to step away from any future Super Bowl halftime performances.

Far from being a passive observer, Lil Wayne took deliberate steps in recent years to align himself with the expectations and politics of an opportunity as big as the Super Bowl stage. He admitted to moving outside his comfort zone, making rare public appearances and rubbing shoulders with A-listers in hopes of increasing his visibility. “If you notice, I was a part of things I’ve never been a part of. Like [Michael] Rubin’s all-white parties. I’m doing s--- with Tom Brady. That was all for that,” he explained. “You ain’t never seen me in them types of venues. I ain’t Drake. I ain’t out there smiling like that everywhere. I’m in the stu’, smokin’ and recording.”
According to Wayne, the NFL had been in touch, nudging him to fine-tune his image to potentially secure the slot. But in the end, the decision wasn’t in their hands. The halftime show is produced by Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company, and the call ultimately came from them. “All of a sudden, according to [the NFL], they got curved. So, I’m going to have to just settle with whatever they say,” Wayne said, echoing his disappointment over what felt like a bait-and-switch.

The heartbreak was not just professional — it was deeply personal. When Kendrick Lamar was officially named the halftime performer in September 2024, Lil Wayne shared a heartfelt video revealing just how much the rejection cut. “It hurt a whole lot,” he said. “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown and for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position.”
While some might have expected bitterness, Wayne showed maturity in handling the announcement, even reaching out to Lamar. “I've spoken to him and I wished him all the best and told him [he] better kill it,” Wayne shared during an appearance on The Skip Bayless Show. But make no mistake — the pain lingers. He admitted he didn’t even tune in to watch Lamar’s performance. “Every time I looked, it was nothing that made me want to go inside and see what was going on,” he said, revealing the emotional wall he had built around the event.
Adding salt to the wound was Wayne’s sense of being misunderstood or overlooked, not just by the NFL but by the entire selection process. “To perform, it’s a bunch of things [the NFL] going to tell you to do and not do, asses to kiss and not kiss,” he told Rolling Stone. Even while previewing tracks from his upcoming Tha Carter 6 album, Wayne couldn’t help but reflect on what could’ve been. “They coulda had some music... But instead they got rappin’,” he said. “They f---ed up.”
Lil Wayne has made it clear — there won’t be a second bid. The stage that once seemed like a dream now represents a missed opportunity that he has no interest in chasing again.
With the city of New Orleans as the backdrop, the Super Bowl Halftime Show could have been a perfect celebration of Wayne’s career and roots. Instead, it became a reminder of how even the most deserving can be left out of the spotlight. “It was perfect,” he said. “And they stole that feeling.”
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