Despite Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine saying he “absolutely, 100 percent†carefully considered the pros and cons of performing at this year’s Superbowl halftime show amid the NFL’s ongoing political strife, Colin Kaepernick’s attorney is calling a load of bullshit on his rationale. Mark Geragos, appearing on Good Morning America on Friday, specifically took issue with Levine’s assertion that it would’ve been “deeply irresponsible†to not look at the gig as a platform for a musician. “If you’re going to cross this idealogical or intellectual picket line, then own it, and Adam Levine certainly isn’t owning it,†Geragos said, per Deadline. “It’s a cop-out when you start talking about, ‘I’m not a politician, I’m just doing the music.’ Most of the musicians who have any kind of consciousness whatsoever understand what’s going on here.â€
Maroon 5 will be performing the halftime show alongside Travis Scott and Outkast’s Big Boi, with the band and Scott agreeing to donate a substantial amount of money to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Dream Corps, respectively, to coincide with their gig. (In fact, Scott refused to headline the show if the NFL didn’t publicly contribute a $500,000 charity pledge.) It’s rumored that artists like Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Pink turned down cushy offers to perform in support of Kaepernick, while Cardi B confirmed last week that she declined “a lot of money†in order to continue to support Kaepernick in solidarity. “You have to sacrifice that. You got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform,†she explained. “But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.â€