In the last episode of the programme carcast Podcast host Matt D’Andria and wrestling legend Bill Goldberg discussed their thoughts on Super Bowl LVII this past weekend, as Rihanna performed as the musical’s superstar during the halftime show.
It turns out that Goldberg was disgusted by the whole thing. Here’s their conversation on the subject:
Goldberg: “So now we’ll talk about entertainment. I thought Rihanna was terrible. I mean, I was disgusted with it. That’s it. Let’s just say that.”
D’Andrea: “I don’t know, it seemed kind of boring.”
Goldberg: “That’s a general understatement, man. I thought it was horrible.”
D’Andrea: “I’m not a fan of country music either, but Chris Stapleton was singing that National Anthem. That guy was good.”
Goldberg: “Well, he didn’t grab my crotch every 15 seconds…it was fine.”
D’Andrea: “He just did a great, well done, well done, just great rendition of that song. Without making it super over the top, hanging a note, and without doing it like…”
Goldberg: “Don’t do it about them. That’s it. Just doing it really well. Period, end of story. Doing their job perfectly.”
It’s one thing to hate a musical performance, but “disgusting” is a strong word to use here.
The WWE MVP superstar just so happened to tweet about this particular pattern of behavior that he noticed:
I’ve noticed that a lot of people who find Rihanna offensive or are “disgusted” by her performance at SB aren’t at all bothered by a presidential candidate who brags about “grabbing women by” or a first lady posing nude.
interesting…– MVP (@The305MVP) February 16, 2023
And for the record, I’ve never been a fan of Joe Biden.
I am not a fan of Trump.
imagine that. You can actually hate both.– MVP (@The305MVP) February 16, 2023
MVP later clarified that he was unaware of Goldberg’s criticism of Rihanna when he sent those tweets:
I just want to clarify. I don’t do passive aggressive or shade throwing.
I didn’t know about Bell’s critique until after I sent the tweet.
The tweet was in response to a lot of people using the words “offensive” or “disgusting” to describe SB’s halftime performance.– MVP (@The305MVP) February 16, 2023
On the surface, one could certainly take Goldberg’s words at face value and assume that some of the physical actions he witnessed during Super Bowl halftime were polarizing. He has the right to share his opinion on behaviors that impress him, and podcasts are a platform for expressing opinions like that.
It is also easy to infer that he may just be a distant old man who is more likely to dismiss artists who are not of his age. This is a very common thing, of course.
Speaking from my own experiences as a white man, I have witnessed similar observations from other white men as their extreme rejection of what they see is caused by racism, sexism, and/or misogyny. And I bet those are the kinds of personal experiences that MVP has in mind when he interacts with people who use words like “nasty” or “offensive” to describe Rihanna’s performance. There aren’t many celebrities who embody racism, sexism, misogyny, and ignorance quite like Donald Trump does, after all, which is the example the MVP is walking with here as he tries to point out the hypocrisy.
What is your reaction to what Goldberg and MVP said about Rihanna, Cagesiders?
