Following the announcement of his partnership with the NFL last year that focused on consulting on the Super Bowl halftime show and helping with the league's social initiative efforts, JAY-Z addressed Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest, saying he wasn't opposed to the gesture, but wanted to move towards "the next phase."
"We forget that Colin's whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice. In that case, this is a success," JAY said. "This is the next phase. There [are] two parts of protesting. You go outside and you protest, and then the company or the individual says, 'I hear you. What do we do next?'"
Other viewers on social media weighed in as well: