Lil Wayne won’t be in the crowd or on stage at Super Bowl LIX, but the New Orleans will make his presence felt regardless.
Weezy teamed up with skincare brand Cetaphil to film a 30-second ad that will air during Sunday’s match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The punchline — “We’re all a lil sensitive” — is both a nod to Cetaphil’s popularity as a brand among those with sensitive skin and Lil Wayne’s public disappointment over not being selected to perform during the big game’s halftime show.
Lil Wayne announced Wednesday that he won’t be attending Super Bowl LIX after Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and the NFL crowned Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar as this year’s halftime performer, setting off a debate among hip-hop fans and New Orleans locals.
Lil Wayne had publicly campaigned to perform the Super Bowl halftime show and represent his hometown, and he wasn’t quiet when he didn’t land the job.
Neither was New Orleans.
At the sold-out Lil Weezyana Fest in November, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her “entertainment ambassador,” No Limit Records founder Percy “Master P” Miller, came onstage to present Lil Wayne with an honorary key to the city.
Officials also announced that Feb. 6 and 7, ironically just days before the Super Bowl, would forever be celebrated in New Orleans as “Lil Wayne Day.”