It looks like what we saw during the Super Bowl halftime show was supposed to be completely different, as told by Lil Jon.
After much speculation over whether or not pop star and former Usher protégé Justin Bieber would perform as a guest during Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, the “Sorry” singer ultimately decided he would sit in a suite and watch instead.
Rapper Lil Jon, who performed alongside Usher on their 2004 hit single “Yeah!,” told TMZ Wednesday that Bieber was invited to perform with them on Sunday but he “just wasn’t really ready.”
Lil Jon also revealed that 179 changes were made to the show throughout the process because there was a plan in place for Justin Bieber to perform.
He told TMZ:
“We wanted to put Justin in the show, so we had the idea of doing a version of the show with Justin in it. But I think Justin just wasn’t really ready to – that’s a lot of rehearsal, a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, and a lot of eyeballs. And I don’t know if he was ready to do all of that. But he definitely was there supporting Ush and they are really good friends, and he definitely was supporting him, regardless.”
He added that the commitment to doing it was just too much for him.
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“He was thinking about it. He was thinking about it, but I think all of the work that goes into it and all of the eyeballs and everything else, I don’t know if he was ready to have that undertaking. It’s a lot of time you have to dedicate to being in a show like this. It’s not just, okay, let’s go do one rehearsal and you get on stage – it’s a lot of time that’s dedicated. So I don’t know if he was ready to do all that.”
Bieber was in attendance and sat in the stands with his wife Hailey Bieber while the Kansas City Chiefs took on the San Francisco 49ers and Usher took the stage.
After the show, Bieber showered Usher with praise via Instagram, saying that “no one can sing and dance the way you do.”
Bieber was discovered by Scooter Braun and signed to his and Usher’s record label in 2008. Bieber and Usher would go on to collaborate on songs like “Somebody to Love Remix” and “First Dance.”
