UPDATED 2/14, 7:51 p.m. ET: Lil Jon says that Justin Bieber was thinking about joining Usher for the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show but seemingly wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment.
“We wanted to put Justin in the show, so we had the idea of doing a version of the show with Justin in it,” the rapper told TMZ in an interview published on Wednesday. “I think Justin just wasn’t really ready to—that’s a lot of rehearsal, a lot of time, and a lot of eyeballs, and I don’t know if he was ready to do all of that, you know what I mean? But he was definitely there supporting us, and they’re really good friends.”
The rapper added, “He was there with his wife having a good time and, you know, it’s a lot of time you have to dedicate to being in a show like this. It’s not just, ‘Okay, let’s go do one rehearsal’ and you get onstage. It’s a lot of time that’s dedicated, so I don’t know if he was ready to do all of that.”
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Despite some mild speculation, Justin Bieber never joined Usher for his Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show, and now we know why.
"There’s no bad blood between Usher and Justin. Justin just wasn’t up for it — he just wasn’t feeling it," a source told Page Six.
Usher reportedly reached out to Bieber's team about possibly performing at halftime, according to TMZ. Despite Bieber's absence, Usher's performance was stacked with guest appearances from Alicia Keys, H.E.R., will.i.am., Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon, and Ludacris.
Bieber's live performances have been rare since canceling his 2023 tour supporting Justice. At the time, he was coming off a Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnoisis, which can cause a painful shingles rash affecting the ear or mouth, hearing loss and facial paralysis, per RareDiseases.org.
However, Bieber was in Las Vegas to attend Super Bowl festivities, including a Fanatics pre-game party with Travis Scott.
He was also at the game with his wife, Hailey Bieber.
