Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for City of Hope
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for City of Hope
UPDATE: Nessa Diab, Colin Kaepernick's girlfriend and a Hot 97 host, criticized Jay-Z while on the air on Wednesday in regards to his deal with the NFL.
\u201c\u201cI don\u2019t mind you doing a business deal - but I do mind you wrapping it in social justice when you\u2019re working with an organization that denies someone an opportunity.\u201d - Nessa\u201d
\u201c\u201cJay has phenomenal music, he\u2019s done so much nobody\u2019s taking that away from him! Do your business! But don\u2019t talk to me about that League when they\u2019re doing dishonorable things.\u201d\u201d
\u201c\u201cYou don\u2019t have to report to anybody! - but don\u2019t you dare call it a social justice reform attempt when it comes to working with that company. Don\u2019t mess with my family!\u201d\u201d
During a press conference about the deal at the Roc Nation offices, Jay responded to questions about Kaepernick alongside NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, according to a report from the Rolling Stone.
"I think that we forget that Colin's whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice, correct?" Jay said. "So in that case, this is a success; this is the next thing. 'Cause there's two parts of protesting. You go outside and you protest, and then the company or the individual says, 'I hear you. What do we do next?' So for me it was like, action, actionable item, what are we going to do with it? Everyone heard and we hear what you're saying, and everybody knows I agree with what you're saying. So what are we going to do? So we should, millions of millions of people, and all we get stuck on [is] Colin not having a job."
The 4:44 rapper was also asked if Kaepernick would be involved in the deal.
"You'd have to ask him," Jay said, referring to Kaepernick. "I'm not his boss. I can't just bring him into something. That's for him to say."
"I'm not knocking anything he's doing, and I hope he doesn't knock what I'm doing," he continued. He also said he spoke with Kaepernick prior to announcing the deal.
However, Nessa, Kaepernick's girlfriend, said that Jay and the activist had never spoken ahead of the former's NFL deal being done.
\u201cTHIS is a lie. COLIN never spoke to Jay-Z and NFL ahead of that deal being done. They NEVER included him in any discussion \ud83d\udc49\ud83c\udffd https://t.co/TWmoXS4JVJ\u201d
Eric Reid, Kaepernick's former teammate, also spoke out against the deal on Twitter when he responded to a tweet from sports journalist Jemele Hill about if Kaepernick was a part of Jay and the NFL's deal.
\u201cabout people of color by forming numerous disingenuous partnerships to address social injustice while collectively blackballing Colin, the person who brought oppression and social injustice to the forefront of the NFL platform.\u201d
\u201cInteresting timing on the partnership with Jay-Z on the heels of Stephen Ross\u2019 fundraiser for Donald Trump and the backlash his other companies are getting because of it. #PayAttentionFolks\u201d
