It has been confirmed that a protestor who displayed a Sudanese-Palestinian flag during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show performance at the Super Bowl has been given a lifetime ban from all NFL events.
Super Bowl LIX was a memorable night for the Philadelphia Eagles, who managed to defeat the reigning NFL champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
After experiencing a narrow 35-38 loss to Andy Reid’s team in February 2023, the Eagles bounced back with a convincing 40-22 win on Sunday, February 9.
The Chiefs, led by tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, were prevented from achieving a historic third consecutive championship, which many had anticipated.
The halftime show featured a 13-minute performance by Kendrick Lamar, which included 11 songs and a live collaboration with SZA, as well as appearances by tennis legend Serena Williams, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and DJ Mustard.
During his 11-track set, 37-year-old Lamar reignited his ongoing feud with labelmate Drake from Universal Music Group (UMG), even mentioning him by name during the performance.
As Lamar began performing ‘Not Like Us’, a man disguised as one of his dancers attempted to disrupt the show by waving a flag representing Sudan and Palestine.
The flag had ‘Gaza’ and ‘Sudan’ written on it, highlighting the ongoing conflicts in these Middle Eastern regions.
The protestor displayed the flag on top of a prop car before running across the field.
Security eventually intervened, tackling him to the ground and removing him from the 83,000-seat stadium in Louisiana.
Following the incident, the NFL confirmed that the individual, identified by NBC News as Zul-Qarnain Nantambu, has been permanently banned from attending any future NFL events.
“We commend security for quickly detaining the individual who displayed the flag,” the NFL told UPI, as reported by Yahoo. “He was part of the 400-member field cast. The individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show.
“No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent. The individual will be banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events.”
A spokesperson for Roc Nation, the entertainment company responsible for producing the halftime show, stated that the protestor’s actions were “neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”
Nantambu claimed that his protest was motivated by his Islamic faith and his empathy for the Palestinian and Sudanese people facing hardships.
“And I know it would invigorate their faith, seeing somebody supporting them and thinking about them on such a grand stage to bring awareness to that, to their struggles,” he told NBC.
“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.”