"If you're going to cross this ideological or intellectual picket line then own it."

In the hours ahead of his Super Bowl halftime performance, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine felt it was necessary to finally address the controversy in performing at this particular grid-iron final. Except, he doesn't appear to have anything to actually say about it at the moment, leaving the band's statement for tonight's globally-broadcasted stage.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Levine explained that after a few rounds of "looking inward" and consulting outward (clearly not towards, Cardi, who declined top-dollar to perform this year in protest of the league,) the band's sturdiest form of expression would be their performance this evening, chalking the fuss up to the yearly spectacle and "an insatiable urge to hate a little bit."

Meanwhile, even though an arbitrator recently granted a full hearing to his lawsuit against the NFL, Colin Kaepernick still can't get a job in the league. His kneeling in protest of police brutality and the league's blackballing him in response remain watershed moments in activism throughout professional athletics. Not to mention, a ton of us were pulling for someone that's actually from Atlanta -- the cultural marvel that forged OutKast and Migos (and like two decades of Southern dominance in hip-hop) -- to perform. And we wound up with "She Will Be Loved" instead of "She Lives In My Lap" in Stankonia of all fucking places. So yeah, a little vague and disconnected, but whatever, Adam.

Kaepernick's attorney, Mark Geragos, caught wind of Levine's interview and promptly blasted it as a "cop out" in a recent segment with Good Morning America. Addressing the halftime show's full line-up, Geragos says, "If you're going to cross this ideological or intellectual picket line then own it." The attorney adds that it is "categorically wrong and untrue" that halftime show co-star Travis Scott had garnered Kaepernick's blessing in his decision to perform. To their credit, both Scott and Levine have promised donations to social justice charities, but it's all seeming a thinner gesture by the day. The only silver lining in any of this is the season's technically over in like six hours. And the wings, I guess.

Watch both Adam Levine's full interview and Geragos' response below.