Amy Schumer supports Kaepernick, won't 'do a Super Bowl commercial this year'
The comedian wrote that she "wouldn't do a Super Bowl commercial this year."
Amy Schumer is letting everyone know where she stands on the NFL kneeling controversy.
Less than a month after she was arrested for protesting the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the comedian expressed her support for former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick through a post on Instagram on Friday.
Schumer said she would turn down offers to appear in Super Bowl ads next year.
“Friday thought,” the caption on Schumer’s post read. “I wonder why more white players aren’t kneeling. Once you witness the truly deep inequality and endless racism people of color face in our country, not to mention police brutality and murders. Why not kneel next to your brothers? Otherwise, how are you not complicit?”
She cited those reasons as to why she wouldn’t be accepting offers to appear in ads during one of the most watched sporting events in the world.
“I personally told my reps I wouldn’t do a Super Bowl commercial this year,” she wrote. “Hitting the NFL with the advertisers is the only way to really hurt them.”
Schumer also called out pop group Maroon 5 for the second time for agreeing to perform in the Super Bowl.
"I think it would be cool if [Maroon 5] backed out of Super Bowl like [Rihanna] did,” she said.
The post followed up on a previous one from Thursday -- a screenshot of an article saying Rihanna had declined an offer to perform in the Super Bowl Halftime Show -- in which she said, “Wouldn’t it be so cool if [Adam Levine] and [Maroon 5] stepped down, too?”
On Thursday, Us Weekly reported that Rihanna declined the offer because she “supports Colin Kaepernick,” who hasn’t played a game in the NFL since the end of 2016 season.
It was during that season that he began kneeling to protest police brutality against black people and people of color.
“The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta,” a source told Us Weekly. “They offered it to her, but she said no because of the kneeling controversy. She doesn’t agree with the NFL’s stance.”
The NFL did not immediately return a request for comment from ABC News.
Schumer is not the only celebrity to back Rihanna’s decision to back out. On Twitter, multiple celebrities expressed support for the singer-entrepreneur, including actress Jameela Jamil.
“What a powerhouse,” Jamil, who is known for her role in the U.S. on the TV series “The Good Place,” wrote. “Rihanna’s grown into such an important voice for women, for people of color and for body positivity. Turning down a $2M dollar check and all that publicity and the records and clothes and makeup she would have sold off the back of it...is God-Level Boss.”