A Super Bowl Tossup: Will Lady Gaga Take on Donald Trump?
Offshore bookmakers are split on whether the outspoken pop star will mention the president in her halftime show; ‘I believe in a passion for inclusion’
Some bettors bored with Sunday’s Super Bowl—the New England Patriots have been consistent three-point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons—are instead pondering which side to take on another wager. Will headliner Lady Gaga make a spectacle during the halftime show?
Lady Gaga
Sports books around the world are offering odds for a number of so-called proposition bets that ask whether the pop star will voice any political statements about Donald Trump before the estimated 100 million viewers expected to watch her performance. Most bets involve whether she will say the words “Trump” or “president.”
Lady Gaga has a history of outspokenness on social issues. On Election night, she appeared outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, where she climbed onto a sanitation truck holding a sign that said: “Love trumps hate.”
Initially, most oddsmakers set lines that suggested a protest was more likely than not. In recent days they have shifted them the other way—suggesting the singer is less likely to mention President Trump. Yet there are still some holdouts. On Thursday, Paddypower.com had posted protest odds of 5 to 4 in favor.
Lady Gaga holds a sign on election night outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. PHOTO: DOMINICK REUTER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Those who think a protest is unlikely say it could stir up a backlash from fans who don’t share her views, or don’t think the Super Bowl is the right forum for them. A protest could also get her into hot water with the NFL and alienate potential new fans. “I think it would cost her too much money and be too much trouble,” said Jim Murphy, the oddsmaker for SportsBettingExperts.com.
Representatives for the NFL and Lady Gaga said the singer was given no guidelines regarding political expression.
Lady Gaga hasn’t been afraid to take risks to make a point on social issues. During a 2010 awards show, she wore a dress of raw meat to protest the U.S. military’s don’t-ask-don’t tell policy.
During the performance of her song “Til It Happens to You” at the Oscars last year, she brought rape victims onstage to draw attention to the issue, after saying in interviews that she, too, had been assaulted.
Yet the 30-year-old chanteuse, whose given name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has so far kept a poker face about Sunday’s halftime show. She hasn’t discussed any overtly political actions, people close to her said. Last year, Lady Gaga performed an earnest version of the national anthem for Super Bowl 50.
During a news conference Thursday in Houston, Lady Gaga said she didn’t want to spoil any surprises in the halftime show, except one—she said she wouldn’t be wearing a meat dress.
At the lectern, she seemed less an edgy performer than a fan as she tossed a football to her father in the audience. Her mother, a former cheerleader, got a hug and a signed football from former NFL quarterback and TV game analyst Terry Bradshaw.
Dressed in a long, sporty, blue, red and gray dress, with her long blond hair neatly styled, she projected an image of wholesomeness as she reminisced about watching past Super Bowl shows. “Watching Michael Jackson do the halftime show was one of fondest memories I have,” she said. Lady Gaga’s mother, who runs her daughter’s Born This Way foundation for youth welfare, said on the organization’s website that “as she does each and every day, she’ll bring kindness with her” to the stage.
Lady Gaga at the lectern during a news conference Thursday in Houston. PHOTO: DAVID J. PHILLIP/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The only statements I’ll be making during the halftime show are the ones I have been consistently making throughout my career,” Lady Gaga said at the news conference. “I believe in a passion for inclusion. I believe in the spirit of equality, and the spirit of this country.”
After watching the news conference, Mr. Murphy from Sportsbettingexperts.com said he dropped his protest odds completely and revised others on questions such as her showtime hair color to reflect his increased confidence that Lady Gaga will play it straight. “It sounds like Lady Gaga is going to put on an entertaining, family friendly show that will keep controversy to a minimum,” he said.
On social media, football fans have been split. Some begged Lady Gaga to push the protest envelope—or boycott the halftime show altogether. Others have pleaded she stick to her routine.
the FCC is barred by law from censoring or trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view, but can sanction broadcasters for airing profane or indecent material at times when children might be in the audience. The NFL can take legal action, too. After the 2012 Super Bowl, the league sued British rapper M.I.A. for $16.6 million for raising her middle finger during the halftime performance. The rapper settled with the league two years later for an undisclosed sum.
As awards season kicks off, many creative types are weighing the pros and cons of using nationally televised events such as the Grammy Awards, which are next week, and the Oscars, at the end of the month, to air their political views.
Lady Gaga onstage in Sunrise, Fla., during a May 2014 performance. PHOTO: KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES
Those who do can rally fans to causes and generate publicity, especially if Mr. Trump fires back on Twitter, as he did in November when cast members of the Broadway show “Hamilton” expressed their views from the stage to Vice President Mike Pence at a postelection performance.
“Apologize!” Mr. Trump tweeted to the cast, calling the show “overrated.”
At the Screen Actors Guild Awards last Sunday, 14 prizes were handed out, and 11 acceptance speeches mentioned the chaotic political climate.
One of the producers of this year’s Oscars, Michael De Luca, said he had no problem with celebrities airing their views at the nationally televised ceremony. “I don’t like this attitude that just because someone’s a celebrity, their right of free speech is taken away,” he told the Hollywood Reporter.
The Recording Academy, though, which hosts the Grammy Awards, isn’t eager to make enemies. Many music executives thought the Obama administration tended to side with technology companies when it came to issues of copyright law, despite close personal relationships with artists. They now hope for better relations with the White House.
The Recording Academy’s president, Neil Portnow, said he hadn’t discussed political statements at the show with artists. He plans to address music industry issues, he said, but likely leave partisan conversations “for the bar.”
As for Lady Gaga, he said, he wouldn’t wager either way: “I can certainly say that she is her own person.”