The 2025 Super Bowl was hosted in Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025. The two teams playing against each other were the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. By halftime the score was 0-33, the Chiefs losing. This shook viewers considering the team has won the Super Bowl two times in the past five years.
The Eagles finished the game taking the win 40-22 and naming quarterback, Jalen Hurts, their Most Valuable Player. The halftime show is a huge performance watched on screens across the country with family and friends gathered with elaborate dishes. Common dishes served are buffalo chicken dip, pigs in a blanket, wings, potato skins, dips, pizza, and more.
This year’s halftime show was performed by Grammy winning artist, Kendrick Lamar, with appearances from SZA, Samuel L. Jackson, and Serena Williams. Many felt that Kendrick’s performance was show-stopping.
Christine Bedolla, a junior at Grand Ledge High School, felt as if the halftime show had hidden meanings,
“I loved the halftime performance, I thought it was very well thought out and I appreciated the constant references to corrupt government and oppression in America. I thought the whole show was filled with lyrics and visuals referencing that. One example being when the backup dancers making the American flag but it’s split down the middle symbolizing division in America.”
Samuel L. Jackson had also made an appearance posing as Uncle Sam interrupting Kendrick when he started new songs or said certain words.
“Him interrupting Kendrick’s performance, telling him what to do and what’s too much, was a direct message to what the government has and continues to do to black Americans and minority groups,” Bedolla continued.
Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” won a Grammy the previous weekend and disses well known rapper Drake. Kendrick shows this in his show by smiling and looking directly into the camera when singing the lines that are written about Drake.
Kendrick brought it to another level when he brought out Serena Williams, Tennis star and Drake’s ex-girlfriend, to crip walk on the side of the stage. Williams, in the 2012 Summer Olympics, celebrated her win with this dance and received backlash such as “trashy and ghetto”. Kendrick including this was an obvious move by him as both Serena and Kendrick are from Compton, an area well known for having Crips.
