Colin Kaepernick is responding to Jay-Z’s decision to bring their long-running dispute back into the spotlight — and he thinks the rapper’s recent freestyle says plenty.
The former NFL quarterback discussed Jay-Z during a conversation with sports journalist Jemele Hill Saturday in Detroit at the National Black Footwear Forum. The discussion centered on Kaepernick’s forthcoming book, The Perilous Fight, before turning to Jay-Z and the NFL partnership that changed their relationship.
Kaepernick said he was surprised Jay-Z referenced him during the rapper’s Yankee Stadium freestyle in July, particularly because years have passed since Roc Nation entered its partnership with the NFL.
“I was very surprised by it,” Kaepernick said.
“I’m living rent-free there,” he added.
Jay-Z referenced Kaepernick while addressing criticism surrounding his business decisions during his Yankee Stadium performances. In the freestyle, Jay-Z claimed Kaepernick had taken a check from the NFL that came with a non-disparagement agreement. TMZ later reported that sources close to Kaepernick disputed that claim, saying he did not sign such an agreement.
Kaepernick said the fact that Jay-Z revisited the issue during an anniversary run was significant to him.
“We are seven years post-him doing that deal,” Kaepernick said. “While you’re doing the anniversary tour to celebrate your best work, that’s the thing that’s most top-of-mind for you.”
Colin Kaepernick Questions Jay-Z’s NFL Deal
Kaepernick went further, saying Jay-Z’s continued references to the dispute suggested the rapper remained troubled by the backlash surrounding the NFL partnership.
“That’s pretty remarkable, how bothered he is by that,” Kaepernick said. “It speaks to a guilty conscience around it.”
The relationship between the two men changed after Roc Nation partnered with the NFL on entertainment and social-justice initiatives. Kaepernick had previously been a prominent supporter of protests against racial injustice during the national anthem, while the NFL partnership became controversial among critics who argued that Jay-Z had compromised the movement.
Jay-Z, meanwhile, has defended his approach to working with the league, arguing that having influence inside major institutions can create opportunities for change.
Kaepernick also pushed back on the idea that his situation could simply be compared with Jay-Z’s decision to partner with the NFL.
“The comparison of ‘I took a deal, he took a deal,’” Kaepernick said, “typically the people you can’t control, you don’t do deals with.”
He maintained that the NFL blackballed him after his protests and said the league later approached him about a potential deal.
The latest exchange puts the Jay-Z-Kaepernick dispute back in the spotlight years after Roc Nation’s NFL partnership began.
And while Jay-Z has moved forward with his business empire and anniversary celebrations, Kaepernick’s comments make clear that he continues to view the partnership — and the fallout from it — very differently.
