"That was Em doing that on his own" - Dr. Dre breaks silence on Eminem taking a knee during Super Bowl halftime show

Dr. Dre and Eminem (along with Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent) put on a show at halftime of Super Bowl LVI. Notably, during Dr. Dre’s piano solo, Eminem knelt on one knee with his head down. While he did not explain why he knelt, many speculated that it was a similar gesture as Colin Kaepernick’s gesture when kneeling during the Star Spangled Banner in protest of police brutality.

Dr. Dre says Eminem was being the real Slim Shady with regard to kneeling on stage

Dr. Dre went further and clarified that whatever Eminem was doing on stage, the Lose Yourself rapper did it of his own accord. As reported by TMZ, Dr. Dre indicated that the hip-hop artist did not plan it ahead of time.

"Em taking a knee that was Em doing that on his own. And there was no problem with that."

"All in all we came in, everybody was professional, everybody was on time. Everybody really felt the magnitude of what this thing was and what we were going to be able to accomplish. It was a fantastic experience."

The NFL shed further light on Eminem’s gesture in a statement to CNN:

"We watched all elements of the show during multiple rehearsals this week and were aware that Eminem was going to do that. A player or coach could have taken a knee and there would have been no repercussions so there was no reason to tell an artist she or he could not do so."

The NFL’s stance is in contrast to its previous policy in 2018. The 2018 policy stated that players are required to stand if they are on the field during the national anthem, but players have the option to remain in the locker room if they prefer. The league previously fined players and personnel who “did not show respect” during the national anthem.

Eminem taking a knee during the biggest game of the year for the NFL is a touchstone for how far the league has progressed since 2016 when Kaepernick first knelt. There have been other speculations that the Stan rapper knelt in honor of the late Tupac. Regardless, the ensemble performance marked a milestone for hip-hop and rap as it was the first time in NFL Super Bowl history that rap artists were the featured performers.