Back when Katy Perry started talking with the NFL about playing the halftime show at the upcoming Super Bowl, the NFL was in a tight spot. They were catching flak from all corners about their handling of the Ray Rice “incident.”
For those of you just emerging from a coma, Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens was caught on security video knocking his then-fiancee out cold after an argument. The League had to deal with the blowback from yet another of its players looking like an out-of-control thug, walloping on women. Regardless of what actually happened between Ray and Janay Rice — and regardless of the fact that they both insist this was a personal incident that should not have involved Rice losing his career — the League had to deal with public perception. Enter Katy Perry.
“It wasn’t an image problem, it was a problem,” Perry said about the issue the NFL faced. “We were all watching and asking ourselves questions about what this year would mean. But I think that the problem that the NFL is dealing with is a global problem … we need to work out — or educate people on.
“I’m all about female empowerment and uplifting people’s spirits, and people finding their own voice with songs like ‘Roar’ and ‘Firework,’ so maybe there is no better person” for the NFL to bring in at this time, Perry reasoned. “Hopefully I can bring that incredible strength and empowerment to people through the performance.”
Perry has already dished a little bit about her Super Bowl show plans.
“My first special guest is going to be an incredible rock & roll icon, a guitar god,” she said when announcing that Lenny Kravitz would join her on the field that day.
“The music is going to be a medley of songs that hopefully you all know and love. I’m gonna do all the songs that work,” Perry joked.
Read more here about Perry’s road to the Super Bowl and her plans for the show.
