The NFL has denied reports that it attempted to stop Eminem from taking a knee during his appearance at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Eminem performed during Sunday’s (February 13) show at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California along with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Anderson .Paak and 50 Cent.

As he finished performing his 2002 single ‘Lose Yourself’ with .Paak and a live band, Eminem took a knee and held his head, seemingly in tribute to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, as the show continued.

Kaepernick took a knee during the US national anthem in the 2016 NFL season to protest against police brutality and racial inequality.

After Dre said yesterday (February 14) that “there were a few things we had to change” in reference to the performance, the NFL’s spokesman has denied that they tried to stop Eminem from taking a knee prior to the show.

“We watched all elements of the show during multiple rehearsals this week and were aware that Eminem was going to do that,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said (via Sky Sports).

Dre added to TMZ that Eminem’s actions “was Em doing that on his own, and there was no problem with that”.

Eminem brought a pop-up of his ‘Mom’s Spaghetti’ restaurant to LA last weekend to coincide with the Super Bowl.

The Detroit rapper also praised his fellow performer Lamar last week, describing the Compton rapper as one of the “top-tier lyricists” of all time.