Kendrick Lamar took the field with SZA, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson during his 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. See the best photos from the 13-minute performance here

A performer at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag referencing both Sudan and the Gaza Strip, providing a brief protest referencing two wars shaking the Middle East. Security at the stadium detained the performer shortly after waving the flag atop a car used as a prop in the performance.

I t was a brief but blockbuster cameo. For less than five seconds in the closing moments of the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, as headliner Kendrick Lamar performed his Grammy-award winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” the camera flipped to the corner of the stage to show 43-year-old tennis all-time-great Serena Williams crip walking.

From 'Not Like Us' to 'DNA' and 'Luther' with SZA, here's every song Kendrick Lamar performed at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.

In its framing, narrative approach, and density, Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl was unlike any that have come before it.

No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent,” the N.F.L. said in a statement about the protest during Kendrick Lamar’s show.

A protester holding a Palestinian flag appeared on stage during the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show. The protester's flag had the words "Gaza" and "Sudan" written on it. Photos show the protester being led away from the field by security.