Super Bowl LI: Will Lady Gaga go off on Trump at halftime?
Lady Gaga protested on a sanitation truck outside Trump Tower in New York City on election night.
Considering she will command one of the biggest TV audiences of the year, speculation is brewing on whether Lady Gaga will use her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show to call out President Donald Trump.
Considering she will command one of the biggest TV audiences of the year, speculation is brewing on whether Lady Gaga will use her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show to call out President Donald Trump.
The
30-year-old pop star will take center stage for 13-minutes during
Sunday's showdown between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons,
and bookmakers are not convinced she won't use it to make a statement
against the 45th President.
Lady Gaga, who stumped for
Hillary Clinton in last year's election, is as politically active as
they come in the pop world. The New Yorker, born Stefani Germanotta, is
a vocal supporter of gay rights, and launched an anti-bullying foundation in 2012.
Days
before the election, she lashed out at Melania Trump in a tweet,
calling the president "one of the most notorious bullies we have ever
witnessed."
Both the NFL and the
singer's representatives have denied reports that the league has
contractually prohibited Lady Gaga from making a political statement at
halftime. "This is unsourced nonsense from people trying to stir up
controversy where there is none," NFL spokesperson Natalie Ravitz to our press
Nevertheless, oddsmakers are only narrowly predicting that controversy will be skirted on Sunday.
Betting site Sports Interaction is offering a payout of more than double
-- a return of $2.10 on a winning $1 bet -- that the singer will
mention either the word "president" or "Trump" during her performance,
and $1.67 on a $1 bet that she will not.
Other
wagers include whether she will wear a pink hat in spirit with the
recent global Women's March (offering a higher payout of $3.25), whether
she will wear an "I voted Hillary" T-shirt ($26), whether her hair will
be a color other than blonde ($3.4) and finally whether she will show
up on stage stark naked (a long shot at $101).
For
the most part, the NFL halftime show has avoided controversy, save for
Janet Jackson's notorious "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004, and more
recently M.I.A's offensive hand gesture to the cameras during Madonna's
performance in 2012.
The NFL reportedly sued the Sri Lankan rapper for over $16 million for the offense, and settled out of court for an undisclosed figure.
Lady
Gaga will likely want to avoid a legal battle with one of the most
powerful sports league in the world -- especially during a performance
for which she is not even getting paid.
But it remains to be seen how she weighs that up against the
opportunity to cement her legacy as an activist in the wake of a
controversial first two weeks in charge for the new president.
For
her part, the singer is not revealing details about her performance,
but did deny a rumor that Beyonce, who just announced her pregnancy with
twins, would join her.
"The only
statements that I'll be making during the halftime show are the ones
that I've been consistently making throughout my career," she said at
her press conference on Thursday.
"I
believe in a passion for inclusion. I believe in the spirit of
equality, and that the spirit of this country is one of love and
compassion and kindness. My performance will uphold those philosophies."
"I don't know if I will succeed in unifying America," she added. "You'll have to ask America when it's over."
Last year's Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers drew nearly 112 million viewers in the US, the third most watched broadcast in the country's history.
It followed a record-breaking 2015 Super Bowl, which also featured the
New England Patriots in their win over the Seattle Seahawks, and drew
over 114 million.
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