Beyoncé and Jay-Z stay seated during Demi Lovato's national anthem at Super Bowl
Update: Jay-Z said he and his family were not making a statement by sitting during the national anthem. Read more here.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z remained seated during the national anthem on Super Bowl Sunday. Video released by TMZ shows the couple and their daughter, Blue Ivy, sitting while Demi Lovato performed "The Star-Spangled Banner." Several others in the area were also seated.
The video went viral online, with many assuming the couple did not stand to show solidarity with some NFL players who protest racial injustice by kneeling during the anthem. The sideline protests were started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first knelt for the national anthem in 2016.
A representative for Jay-Z and Roc Nation did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
NFL owners ultimately approved a new policy that permits players to stay in the locker room during the "The Star-Spangled Banner" but requires them to stand — and not kneel — if they're on the field.
Jay-Z works with the NFL and co-produced this year's half-time show. The NFL and Jay-Z's company Roc Nation announced they were teaming up for events and social activism. He has been a strong supporter of Kaepernick and was criticized for his company's NFL deal, which many saw as contrary to his beliefs and support of the sideline protests.
"No one is saying he hasn't been done wrong. He was done wrong," Jay-Z told The New York Times on Saturday. "I would understand if it was three months ago. But it was three years ago and someone needs to say, 'What do we do now because people are still dying?'"
Jay-Z has long been vocal about criminal justice and prison reform. Earlier this year, he worked with rapper Yo Gotti to hire lawyers for inmates in Mississippi after several people died in the state's prisons at the start of the year.
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Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.
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