Lil Wayne breaks silence over 2025 Super Bowl Halftime snub: 'It broke me'

Lil Wayne speaks out on being passed over for the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show in favor of Kendrick Lamar. 

On Friday, the 41-year-old rapper admitted that it 'broke' him not getting to selected to perform at the show, scheduled to take place at New Orleans’ Caesars Stadium on February 9. 

'First of all, I want to say forgive me for the delay. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking,' he said in video, uploaded to his Instagram. 'I’mma say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all love and support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.'

Still, the five-time Grammy winner, who grew up in New Orleans, said being overlooked 'hurt a whole lot.' 

'I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown. And for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that,' the father-of-four noted.

He continued: ''But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot.' 

Despite saying that not 'getting this opportunity' made him feel like 's**t,' the rapper thanked his fans for their support as he tries to put himself 'back together.' 

'Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do. I feel like I let all of y’all all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So thank you,' he concluded. 

While appearing on YG’s 4Hunnid podcast in February, Wayne said he was 'praying' and keeping his 'fingers crossed' for the halftime slot. 

On Sunday, Lamar announced that he will headline the Super Bowl LIX Apple Music Halftime Show, which will be held at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA on February 9. 

'My name is Kendrick Lamar and I'll be performing at Super Bowl LIX,' the 37-year-old Not Like Us rapper - who boasts 59.2M social media followers - said in a video.

'Will you be pulling up? I hope so. You know there's only one opportunity to win a championship. No round twos. Let's get it, boom! I wouldn't want you to miss it. Meet me in New Orleans [on] February 9, 2025.

'Wear your best dressed too, even if you're watching from home. Let's go, yeee! It's what I'm talking about, man. Now we can get to it for real.' 

In the clip, Kendrick manned a football passing machine on the field in front of a massive American flag. 

'Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date,' Lamar (born Duckworth) said in a statement.

'And I'll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.'

The Pulitzer Prize-winning musician previously performed at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show in 2022 headlined by Dr. Dre - and 103.4M viewers tuned in as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Mary J. Blige took turns with guest verses.

'Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer,' Roc Nation founder Jay-Z said in a statement.

'His deep love for hip-hop and culture informs his artistic vision. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. Kendrick’s work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.'

Kendrick's announcement coincided with the opening Sunday of the NFL season when many of the league's teams will be playing, ensuring that fans learned of the news.

On February 11, Usher was the roller-skating headliner for Super Bowl LVIII alongside Alicia Keys, Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R., will.i.am, Lil Jon, and Ludacris in a show watched by 129.3M viewers.

And last year, Rihanna unveiled her second pregnancy while headlining Super Bowl LVII, which amassed 121M viewers.

Lamar spent much of this year embroiled in a brutal public feud with rap rival Drake - releasing five diss tracks (Like That, Euphoria, 6:16 in LA, Meet the Grahams, and Not Like Us) accusing him of Ozempic use, pedophilia, and having an illegitimate 11-year-old daughter.

And while the Compton native's rap beef with the Canadian 37-year-old dates back to 2013, they started out amicable collaborating on Drake's 2011 album Take Care, Kendrick's 2012 track Poetic Justice, and A$AP Rocky's 2013 track F***** Problems.

The hip-hop stars even happily toured together in 2012 during Drake's (born Aubrey Graham) $42.6M-grossing, 65-date Club Paradise Tour.

But Kendrick drew a line in the sand in 2013 with his song Control: 'I'm usually homeboys with the same n****s I'm rhyming with / But this is hip-hop and them n****s should know what time it is / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, ASAP Rocky, Drake / Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n****s / Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n****s / They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n****s.'

That same year, Lamar referred to tucking 'a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes' at the BET Awards yet told Complex things were 'pretty cool' with Drake, but added: 'I mean, I would be okay if we weren't.'

The feud went dormant until last Halloween when the OVO Sound co-founder and J. Cole released their song First Person Shooter referring to themselves and Kendrick as 'the big three': 'Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league.'

The 17-time Grammy winner apparently had a big problem with that, which he expressed in an uncredited verse on Metro Boomin and Future's track Like That, which dropped on March 26.

'Sneak dissin' / First Person Shooter / I hope they came with three switches,' Lamar rapped.

'I still got PTSD / Muthaf*** the big three, n***a, it's just big me.'

The Oscar-nominated songwriter also said 'Prince outlived Mike Jack' as a shot to Drake, and he rapped about his album For All the Dogs: 'N***a, bum, before all your dogs getting buried / That's a K with all these nines, he gone see Pet Sematary.'

Meanwhile, the five-time Grammy winner released four diss tracks (Push Ups, Taylor Made Freestyle, Family Matters, and The Heart Part 6) poking fun of Kendrick's 5ft5in stature, domestic/sex abuse allegations, 50% record deal, as well as his collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5.