Super Bowl LVI will be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, but not everyone who tunes in cares about the big game. The event is about football, sure, but it’s also full of exciting movie trailer reveals, hilarious high-budget commercials featuring Dr. Evil, and halftime shows featuring performances by some of the biggest superstars in the world. This year, Eminem takes the stage alongside Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre (who has some surprises up his sleeve), and Mary J. Blige. There’s a good chance the 8 Mile star busts out his classic hit, “Without Me.” On that note, has anyone else ever wondered what *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick thinks of the diss that the song makes at his expense?
I had a chance to speak to Chris Kirkpatrick following his eviction from Celebrity Big Brother and found out just how he feels. I asked Kirkpatrick if he'd ever had a chance to speak with Eminem about that line, and he not only revealed that but also how he feels about the song in general:
No, actually we haven’t. I’ve always been a huge fan of Eminem’s, I love Eminem. . .I don’t think he really hates me. He might, but I don’t know. If he really hates me, he put me in a song, and I’m in an iconic, iconic song. An amazing song that I’m singing all the time and. I’ll sing ‘Chris Kirkpatrick, you can get your ass kicked’ and I’m like, I love singing it. It’s awesome to be in something that’s going to last forever, especially with somebody that I respect as much as him.
I’m not sure any moment in my life will be as surreal as getting to experience Chris Kirkpatrick directly saying the line from “Without Me,” especially given the context. Aside from that though, it’s cool to hear that Kirkpatrick isn’t at all offended by the reference and even likes to sing the tune from time to time.
The singer and music producer actually has something in common with Eminem, as he too participated in an ensemble Super Bowl halftime show back in 2001. *NSYNC took the stage with Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Nelly, and even Mary J. Blige for a huge variety show of big hits. He spoke about the significance of the event in his own life and how it measured up to other accomplishments in his career:
Just the whole thing, it’s one of those bucket-list things that you can say you’ve done. It’s the biggest game of the year, and you get to do the halftime show. It’s like when we got the Walk of Fame star, or like when you play Rock in Rio. There’s certain things that you do where you’re like, ‘Whoa, this is – we’ve made it.’ This was one of the biggest. That was amazing.
So if Eminem (who admitted he’s nervous about performing) utters the line “Chris Kirkpatrick, you can get your ass kicked,” on Super Bowl Sunday, just know there’s a chance the singer is spouting it right alongside him. Not sure the same can be said of some of the rapper’s other past targets (like Stan)!
Super Bowl LVI will air live on NBC on February 12, with kickoff starting at 6 p.m. ET, and you can stream it over on Peacock. Tune in for what should be an exciting football game, and and hopefully, one epic halftime show.
