JAY-Z made headlines when it was announced that his company, Roc Nation, had inked a social justice and entertainment partnership with the NFL. Because of the nature of the deal, some wondered if Colin Kaepernick would be involved, including The Atlantic's Jemele Hill, who tweeted: "If Colin Kaepernick isn’t part of this, I’m not sure how to feel about this. Very curious about these details." Kaepernick's close friend, former teammate, and fellow activist, Eric Reid, took to Twitter and responded with three words: "He is not."
Reid also linked the timing of the new partnership to the controversy surrounding Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross' recent Trump fundraiser.
He also responded to a Twitter user who accused him of hypocrisy for playing in a league that he continues to openly criticize.
Reid went on to retweet various people who called out JAY-Z for partnering with the NFL, including writer Shaun King, who called the rapper a "woke capitalist," and journalist Ernest Owens, who claimed that JAY-Z did not consult with Kaepernick before getting into bed with the NFL.
Reid continued to criticize Jay-Z late into the evening, accusing the rapper of helping to bury Kaepernick’s legacy.
Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa Diab, also seemed perturbed the Roc Nation deal, retweeting Reid throughout the day, and others who called the deal into question.
She took issue with a report linking Robert Kraft to the deal, which reportedly was in the works as early as last year.
It's no surprise that some people have taken issue with JAY-Z's new partnership and how it relates to Kaepernick. Remember, he's been one of Kaepernick's most vocal supporters before, during, and after the collusion case, and is rumored to have turned down the opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2017, a move he's alleged to have made in a show of solidarity with Kaepernick.
JAY-Z seemingly tried to address concerns about the new partnership and how it relates to Kaepernick, when he spoke to the Wall Street Journal. "[Kaepernick] absolutely brought this conversation alive," Hov said. "We like to think that the way we build the Inspire Change platform, that if anything close to that would happen in the future, then Kaepernick would have a platform where he can express himself and maybe it doesn’t have to take place on the field."
JAY-Z will likely have to address the issue further, when the deal is expected to be officially announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
