Drake ‘Turned Down The Super Bowl Twice,’ Steve Stoute Says

Steve Stoute has joined the list of people who, in the aftermath of the controversy around the choice of Kendrick Lamar to perform at halftime of Super Bowl LIX, have said that Drake has turned down the opportunity to perform during the Big Game more than once.

In an appearance on The Pivot Podcastthat went live on Friday (September 20), Stoute took some time to defend his longtime friend (and relative) JAY-Z, who as the man behind the halftime show, has taken some hits following the Kendrick announcement from people who feel that Lil Wayne would have been a better choice, given that the game is in Weezy’s hometown of New Orleans.

Stoute defended Hov’s recent halftime show choices.

“As far as I’m concerned, these artists  are getting their flowers, and are getting their chance to perform on this stage — these Black artists, Hip Hop and R&B artists — if it wasn’t for [JAY-Z], this wouldn’t be happening,” Stoute began. “So how could you come down and criticize this man like that?”

Stoute pivoted from that to another tack: that if Drake had taken one of the Super Bowl slots he was offered, he could have been the one to bring Wayne onto the stage.

“I will confirm Drake was offered the Super Bowl twice,” he continued. “Drake did turn down the Super Bowl twice. And I’m sure if Drake would have said yes, he would have brought Lil Wayne out at some point. He probably would have brought out Nicki. Which is probably why she’s upset [with JAY-Z], ’cause she’s not onstage.

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“He turned it down twice, which is fine. He didn’t want to do it. But nobody’s going to say, ‘Damn, why’d you turn it down? You could’ve got Lil Wayne on.’ Nobody’s going to connect that dot.”

Check Stoute’s comments out below, beginning around the nine-minute mark.

Stoute’s statement about Drizzy turning down the Super Bowl matches reporting by Elliott Wilson, Editorial Director of Hip Hop Journalism at UPROXX Studios, DX’s parent company.

“I have it on authority, multiple sources have told me that Drake has indeed turned down the Super Bowl. He actually turned down the first two [since JAY-Z’s NFL partnership] — the one in Miami and The Weeknd one,” Wilson said in a recent episode of HipHopDX’s The Bigger Picture.

He added: “These guys are rivals with each other, they’ve had their good times and bad times with each other. But businesswise, JAY-Z wanted Drake on that Super Bowl stage and he turned it down twice.”

News of Drizzy reportedly turning down the Super Bowl was first made public by New Rory & Mal co-host Mal.