Latest news with #Sudanese-Palestinian
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Super Bowl halftime protester wanted to ‘highlight the human suffering' of Palestinians
The performer in Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show who was detained after showing a Sudanese-Palestinian flag Sunday said he wanted to 'highlight the human suffering' of Palestinians. Zül-Qarnain Nantambu, 41, spoke with NBC News after the incident, saying he was accepted about a month ago to perform in the halftime show. Nantambu was detained after holding up a combination flag with the words 'Sudan' and 'Gaza' written on it. The NFL said he would be banned from all stadiums and events for life. New Orleans Police did not press charges. On Monday, President Trump gave a stark warning to Hamas, which has paused its release of hostages, saying he would undo the ceasefire agreement made with Israel if the Palestinian militant group doesn't release the hostages. Nantambu told NBC News that he sees some good in Trump and hopes he will be 'empathetic and compassionate to those who are suffering in Palestine,' even as the president says he has a proposal to take over Gaza and not allow Palestinians to return. Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. About 1,200 people were killed in Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that started the war. Nantambu told NBC that his protest was inspired by his Islamic faith, as well as Lamar's political performance. During the halftime show, Lamar made several references to political issues, including having his dancers dressed in red, white and blue, posing in an American flag formation. That use of symbolism is what kept Nantambu from backing out of the Sudanese-Palestinian protest he planned. 'He had the people formulate the American flag; he had two big black flags with his record label,' Nantambu said. 'And he talked about the revolution being televised, and he talked about consciousness.' The performance continued without a major disruption and the flag did not appear to be broadcast live during the halftime show, but video of Nantambu holding the flag before being apprehended by security spread on social media. No one involved in the production reportedly knew Nantambu planned to unfurl the flag. He said he hopes his small act of protest is able to motivate others to speak out. 'Maybe we don't have the military prowess to stop the war, but we can at least do what we can to help those who are afflicted by these different atrocities in these countries,' Nantambu said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Super Bowl halftime protester wanted to ‘highlight the human suffering' of Palestinians
The performer in Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show who was detained after showing a Sudanese-Palestinian flag said he wanted to 'highlight the human suffering' of Palestinians during the performance. Zül-Quarnaįn Nantambu, 41, spoke with NBC News after the incident, saying he was accepted about a month ago to perform in Sunday's halftime show. Nantambu was detained after attempting to show a combination flag with the words 'Sudan' and 'Gaza' written on it. The NFL said he would be banned from all stadiums and events for life, though New Orleans Police did not press charges. On Monday, President Trump gave a stark warning to Hamas, who has paused releasing hostages, that he would undo the ceasefire agreement made with Israel if the Palestinian militant group doesn't release the hostages. Nantambu told the outlet that he sees some good in Trump, and hopes he will be 'empathetic and compassionate to those who are suffering in Palestine,' even as the president says he has a proposal to take over Gaza. Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, over 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. About 1,700 people were killed in Hamas's attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Nantambu told NBC that his protest was inspired by Islamic faith, but also inspired by Lamar's political performance. During the halftime show, Lamar made several references to political issues, including having his dancers dressed in red, white and blue, posing in an American flag formation. That use of symbolism is what kept Nantamby from backing out of the Sudan-Palestine protest he planned. 'He had the people formulate the American flag; he had two big black flags with his record label,' Nantambu said. 'And he talked about 'the revolution being televised,' and he talked about consciousness.' The performance continued without a major disruption and the flag did not appear to be broadcast live during the halftime show. No one reportedly in production knew that Nantambu planned to unfurl the flag. He said he hopes his small act of protest is able to motivate others to speak out. 'Maybe we don't have the military prowess to stop the war, but we can at least do what we can to help those who are afflicted by these different atrocities in these countries,' Nantambu said.
Express Tribune
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Super Bowl 2025 protester breaks silence on inside job rumors and Kendrick Lamar's involvement
Zül-Qarnain Nantambu, the man who raised a dual Sudanese-Palestinian flag during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl 2025 halftime show, has broken his silence following speculation that the protest may have been an "inside job." In an interview with Nantambu confirmed he was solely responsible for the stunt, clarifying that it was an act of solidarity with the victims of ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza. The protest unfolded when Nantambu unfurled the flag during Lamar's performance, ran across the field, and was quickly tackled by security staff. Amid rumors that the protest was planned in collaboration with Lamar or the event's organizers, Nantambu set the record straight. 'It wasn't a part of [Lamar's] plan,' he stated to emphasizing that the rapper was unaware of his actions. Nantambu, who had been hired as a participant in the show, explained that he unveiled the flag at the same time as other banners, which led to security's unpreparedness. The protest has raised serious questions about the event's security, with Nantambu banned from NFL stadiums and events for life, although he has not been arrested or charged. Describing his act as inspired by his faith, Nantambu stressed that his protest was not political but a sign of solidarity with suffering Muslims in Gaza and Sudan. "We live a life of luxury in comparison to what they're going through," he added. While Nantambu's actions sparked a wide range of reactions, including praise from pro-Palestine activists on social media, he insisted that he did not seek the spotlight. "I'm just a servant," he said. Despite being banned from future NFL events, his protest has continued to fuel discussions on the security lapses at major events and the global conflicts he aimed to highlight.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Super Bowl 2025 Hits 126 Million Viewers, Most-Watched Ever
The Super Bowl has achieved its biggest audience ever for the second year in a row: An average of 126 million viewers watched the Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9. That's a 2% improvement from last year's telecast, which was already reported by Nielsen as the largest TV audience it had ever recorded. This year's total accounts for viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, Tubi, Telemundo and NFL digital properties as measured by Nielsen, Fox and the NFL, whereas last year's 123.7 million viewers were measured across CBS, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, CBS Sports and the same NFL digital properties. More from Variety How Kanye West Landed a Super Bowl Ad - Then Used It to Sell Swastika Shirts After It Aired Super Bowl Halftime Performer Detained and Banned From NFL Events for Waving Sudanese-Palestinian Flag Kendrick Lamar's Streams for 'Not Like Us' Soar 430% on Spotify After Super Bowl Halftime Show According to Fox, viewership peaked during the second quarter of the game, with an average of 135.7 million viewers between 8 and 8:15 p.m. ET. The network says that streaming viewership of the Super Bowl also hit an all-time high with 13.6 million of the total viewers tuning in via Tubi and just under a million using NFL+ or other NFL platforms. Besides the game itself, the half-time show was a major draw to the telecast. Kendrick Lamar was the headliner, notably performing his Drake diss track 'Not Like Us' — recently named the most decorated song in Grammy history — and bringing out celebrity guests including SZA, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams and Mustard. The telecast also featured the usual multitude of celebrity-filled ads. On YouTube, the most-watched commercials included a ad featuring the Muppets, a Goldilocks-themed Ram Trucks ad led by Glen Powell and an ad for the Google Pixel 9. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Kanye West Landed a Super Bowl Ad — Then Used It to Sell Swastika Shirts After It Aired
Kanye West's advertisement during Sunday night's Super Bowl stunned viewers with its bizarre vibe. But then what happened next shocked the station execs who ran it and media buyers who approved the spot even more: West immediately flipped the website after the ad aired, replacing its previous content with just one item: A swastika T-shirt for sale, at $20 each. Up until the ad actually ran, the website featured a Shopify-powered store selection of various non-branded articles of clothing like shirts, pants and jackets — nothing that would have been deemed a content issue. And Variety can confirm — because this reporter immediately checked the site after the spot aired in Los Angeles — that when the ad first ran, the swastika T-shirt wasn't there. Here's an example of the before and after: More from Variety Super Bowl Halftime Performer Detained and Banned From NFL Events for Waving Sudanese-Palestinian Flag Kendrick Lamar's Streams for 'Not Like Us' Soar 430% on Spotify After Super Bowl Halftime Show Jeremy Strong on Poking Fun at Method Acting With Dunkin' Donuts Super Bowl Ad: 'I Had No Trouble Taking the Piss Out of Myself' Within the hour of the ad airing in Los Angeles and other markets, West made the switch and users saw just that $20 white t-shirt with a swastika on it. At that point, the on-air ad had already run and it was too late. According to insiders, the ad went through legal approval, and moved forward because there was no standards issue with the 30-second spot itself. It's simply a low-budget ad, shot on an iPhone, with West sitting in what appears to be a dentist's chair while stammering, 'So what's up, guys, I spent, like all the money for the commercial on these new teeth. So once again, I had to shoot it on the iPhone. Um… um… go to The ad ran on three Fox-owned stations, including KTTV Los Angeles, and may have been seen in a few more local markets. It's not the first time West had purchased a local spot during the Super Bowl, as one was seen on at least one small market CBS affiliate in 2024. But that one aired without any incident. There had been plenty of red flags that selling an ad to West might be a problem. The hip-hop star has proclaimed himself to be a Nazi, and his X account has been deactivated after spending several days posting racist and antisemitic comments, from declaring 'I'm a Nazi' to calling Hitler 'so fresh.' Despite those recent outbursts on social media, the Yeezy spot moved forward by perhaps falling a bit through the cracks since it was a one-off spot sold to a handful of local markets. Most of those ads are for local businesses like law firms and car dealerships (in LA, the ad that ran right after the Yeezy spot was for the California Lottery) — so if it's not flagged for standards & practices, it winds up making its way to air. As a result, West's spot didn't get the scrutiny that comes with big national Super Bowl buys. And since the ad didn't include any questionable content, and at that moment the website didn't include the swastika t-shirt, once it passed muster with legal it was likely thrown into the local ad rotation without much more thought or visibility. 'It was such a small ad, I don't think anyone put two and two together,' said one insider. 'The copy was clean, the website was clean, and so they did their due diligence with that little part of it.' Reps for Fox TV Stations and for USIM — the ad agency that placed the spot — did not respond to requests for comment. Local ads in major markets during the Super Bowl might cost a few hundred thousand dollars for a spot — much less than the price tag for a national ad, but still expensive. Controversial advertisers often buy local spots, rather than national ones, during the Super Bowl to save money and also fly a bit under the radar. Shopify also didn't return a request for comment. Crisis PR vet Ronn Torossian said Shopify is making 'a colossal PR mistake by allowing Kanye to sell a swastika shirt on their platform.' The 5WPR founder/chairman added that 'there is no excuse for Shopify allowing him to sell these on their platform and from a crisis PR perspective, this will have to be explained. Making money selling a shirt which was the primary emblem of the Nazis and signifies the death of 6 million Jews is despicable.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
