Credit: mariahcarey/Instagram

Mariah Carey continues to show us that it’s her world and we’re just living in it. The Songbird Supreme has never been shy about standing up for what she believes in, now matter how salty her critics can get.

On Sunday, when the rest of America was glued to their TV screens watching the Super Bowl, Mariah Carey tweeted out: “Happy Colin Kaepernick Appreciation Day!”

Happy Colin Kaepernick Appreciation Day!

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) February 8, 2021

Man interpreted the tweet as shade directed at the NFL for airing a seemingly anti-racism commercial that simultaneously revealed that the organization would be committing $250 million to ending systematic racism.

The commercial consisted of an inspirational speech being played over footage of Black Lives Matter protests.

While our season is ending, our fight for equity is not.

It takes all of us to create change and advance social justice.

Learn more at https://t.co/1n7GSdNDx6. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/NdKd8JkW1W

— Inspire Change (@InspireChange) February 8, 2021

“Football is a microcosm of America. All races, religions, living, playing, competing, side by side,” said the commercial.

Many viewers pegged the ad and announcement as tone-deaf, considering the NFL’s containing failure to support Colin Kaepernick’s (and now other Black football players’) protests against police brutality.

“Just saw a commercial that the NFL is committing $250 Million to end systemic racism yet they can’t even commit a couple million to get Colin Kaepernick signed to a team…” wrote one skeptical Twitter user.

“The NFL creating a commercial that shows players kneeling, putting “Breonna Taylor” on the back of their helmets, and ends with the league committing $250 million to end systemic racism must have @Kaepernick7 feeling some type of way,” wrote another.

This isn’t the first time Mariah has publicly showed her support for the former quarterback for the 49ers.

In 2018, Carey posted a picture on her Instagram of herself and Kaepernick together in a photo-op that (most of) her fans were going crazy over. She captioned the picture: “Such an honor to meet @kaepernick7 today!”

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A post shared by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey)

Carey, who is of Afro-Venezuelan descent, has always been frank about her support of racial equality and the end to police violence. She notably postponed the release of her 30th anniversary album to not detract attention from the BLM movement.

“As we continue to fight for equality and justice within our broken systems, I thank you for using your platforms to educate, inform and invoke change. Together let’s bring on a change,” she wrote on her Instagram.

While she was at it, Mariah also used her Twitter account to bring attention to another grave injustice that took place at a previous Super Bowl: the blackballing of Janet Jackson.

Yes it is! ❤️

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) February 8, 2021

When one fan replied to her “Colin Kapppp appreciation thread” with the tweet, “Don’t forget it’s also Janet Jackson appreciation day,” she responded with a sly: “Yes it is! *Heart emoji*”

Sigh. No one is able to shade like the Queen.

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One of The Weeknd’s recent collaborators, Maluma, watched his Super Bowl halftime show performance from home instead of from the stage. Fans were sad that there was no surprise guest but the show went on. After The Weeknd ended up having zero special guests, the Colombian superstar offered a hilarious response.

Maluma joked about being left out of the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Muy duro todo pero….. falto #HawaiRemix 😭

— MALUMA (@maluma) February 8, 2021

“Very strong [show], but the #HawáiRemix was missing,” Maluma wrote in Spanish with a crying face emoji.

Even though The Weeknd said days before that there would be “no special guests,” fans were still holding out hope that other artists would appear in some capacity. Maluma was rumored because The Weeknd scored a big hit with him late last year when they teamed up for the Spanglish remix of “Hawái.”

Rosalía was another rumored guest.

Fans were really hoping for Spanish pop star Rosalía to be a guest, but that did not happen. She joined The Weeknd last year for a Spanglish remix of his year-long Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Blinding Lights.” She presumably watched his set from home too.

Every time I hear blinding lights now I hear rosalia singing "this timeee" in english

— Lucas Villa (@myprerogative15) February 8, 2021

The Weeknd did the Super Bowl solo.

It seems that The Weeknd is the man of his words and made his solo show everything it could be. Not even French duo Daft Punk appeared onscreen during “Starboy” or “I Feel it Coming.” After putting in $7 million dollars of his own money into his set, The Weeknd did what he had to do in his red After Hours suit.

One of the moments going viral online is The Weeknd’s disorienting performance of “I Can’t Feel My Face.” He was caught up in a flurry of men running around in surgical bandages. That was a nod to his look at the start of his After Hours album era last year.

Another poignant moment was The Weeknd’s performance of “The Hills.” He was joined in the stadium’s bleachers with a choir of all Black men. The Weeknd also performed his latest single “Save Your Tears” in a stunning, stripped-back interlude.

Read: Surprise! Maluma’s baby is his new album ‘7 Days in Jamaica’ (Listen)

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