(Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/Thearon W. Henderson)

Jay-Z thinks that everyone should move on from Kaepernick drama

Rapper Jay-Z just signed a deal with the NFL to head up social justice initiatives within the professional football organization. When critics accused Jay-Z of overlooking the fact that the NFL had “blacklisted” former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem, Jay-Z said it was time to “move on” from Kaepernick’s protests.

But Kaepernick took issue with Jay-Z’s stance. Earlier this week, he tweeted, “My Brothers continue to fight for the people, even in the face of death threats. They have never moved past the people and continue to put their beliefs into action. Stay strong Brothers!!!” Kaepernick tagged three NFL players who supported his protests in the tweet.

On Tuesday, Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos, called Jay-Z’s social justice partnership with the NFL “cold-blooded.” Eric Reid, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, also took to Twitter to defend Kaepernick. When sportscaster Stephen A. Smith pointed out that social justice within the NFL were “what [Kaepernick] wanted,” Reid disputed him.

“We never advocated for Colin to lose his job while we fought against systemic oppression. That’s unjust, and where the NFL inserted itself into this. Now the NFL is “championing” social justice to cover their own systemic oppression in blackballing Colin. So we will fight to get Colin’s job back as well,” Reid tweeted. “Jay-Z knowingly made a money move with the very people who’ve committed an injustice against Colin and is using social justice to smooth it over with the black community.”