Adam Levine and Maroon 5 had already found it difficult finding someone to perform alongside them during last night’s Super Bowl halftime show. The controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick and the protests during the National Anthem caused many big names to turn down the offer.
Now, after what some are calling the most boring game (and halftime show) in Super Bowl history, Levine took to social media to speak out to fans and critics of the band’s performance.
“When we accepted the responsibility to perform at the SBHTS, I took out my pen and just wrote,” Levine wrote on Instagram. “Some of the words that came to me in that moment eventually made their way onto the incredible lanterns that flew high and low tonight. We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage. We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us to do better. One Love.”
He also included the list of words he mentioned: “forgive, laugh, cry, smile, share, live, endure, embrace, remember, enlighten, preserve, inspire, sweat, fight, express, give, receive, elevate, climb, unify, fortify, soften, dance, scream, dream, educate, provide, inhale, exhale, persevere, stand, knee, overcome, love, listen.”
According to Billboard, the band spoke to only one news outlet about the controversy: “I’m not in the right profession if I can’t handle a little bit of controversy,” he said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “It’s what it is. We expected it. We would like to move on from it. And like I said earlier, speak through the music.”
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