Why Rihanna will not be paid for Super Bowl performance

American-Barbadian singer, Rihanna headlined the 57th Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which marked her first live performance in six years.

Clad in an all-red outfit, the celebrated music icon cradled her ‘bulging’ belly at one point during her performance.

Rihanna opened up her 13-minute performance at the 57th Super Bowl Halftime Show with "B---- Better Have My Money" and ended her night with her 'monster' hit song "Diamonds."

Her performance brought back memories to many music fans who had missed the pop star for the past five years after she decided to take a music break.

Rihanna was first billed to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2019 but she turned it down as a show of support for former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was ousted from the NFL for kneeling in protest of systemic racism and police brutality. “I just couldn’t be a sellout,” the pop star said at the time, “I couldn’t be an enabler.”

But she made a comeback in 2023 saying that “I felt like it was now or never for me. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, it's an entertainer's dream to be on a stage like that."

However, Rihanna won’t be paid for her Super Bowl performance as is custom for halftime headliners since the show began in 1967.

According to Forbes, musicians who graced the occasion are not paid. Forbes details that the Super Bowl Halftime Show is a dream for every American artist because the show does offer huge benefits from exposure to a massive audience.

According to Forbes, more than 192 million people watched the Super Bowl Halftime Show and that is the benefit the pop star got from gracing the show.