Now that we have performers for the Super Bowl halftime show, how will the controversy play out?

If you spent any time watching football yesterday, you’ll know that after weeks of rumours, Maroon 5 is 100% officially confirmed to star in the Super Bowl halftime show in Atlanta next month. We also learned that they’ll be joined by Big Boi and Travis Scott.

All this is very risky because of all the controversy regarding the NFL’s blackballing of Colin Kaepernick and the league’s hardass attitude toward the players’ “take a knee” protest to promote social justice.

So many artists have rebuffed the NFL for Super Bowl LIII: Rihanna, Cardi B, Pink, and Jay-Z among them. In fact, word is that Jay-Z has been trying to talk Travis Scott out of appearing.

Others have agreed to perform at events surrounding the game, but not the halftime show itself.

Let’s unpack a few more things. First, Scott wouldn’t appear unless the NFL made a big donation to a social justice organization called The Dream Corps. That may mitigate things for him.

Big Boi is one-half of Outkast, who are from Atlanta. Given that the city is an important hip-hop capital right now, there was pressure to have some kind of local representation. Whether Big Boi will have to endure some blowback from the music community remains to be seen.