Prince’s Brother Shoots Down Super Bowl Hologram Rumor

On Saturday a report began floating on the Internet that Justin Timberlake was planning on using a […]

February 4, 2018, 6:53am

On Saturday a report began floating on the Internet that Justin Timberlake was planning on using a hologram of pop icon Prince during Sunday’s Super Bowl LII Halftime Show.

Prince’s brother, Omar Baker, set the record straight on Twitter by saying that won’t be the case. He posted a tweet with a circle with a line drawn through it along with the hashtag #PrinceHologram to the Prince Family Twitter account.

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🚫 #PrinceHologram
— PRNFamily® (@PRNFamily) February 3, 2018

When asked to further clarify by a fan, Baker kept his response brief.

“Does this mean you didn’t authorize it or that it’s not happening?” Twitter user @ChristinaRiggs tweeted. The family account responded “Both.”

Prince’s long-time collaborator and former fiancée Sheila E also weighed in, writing “Prince told me don’t ever let anyone do a hologram of me. Not cool if this happens!” on a retweet of a story with the hologram rumor from Pitchfork.

Family, I spoke w/Justin 2nite and he shared heartfelt words of respect for Prince & the Purple fans. I look 4wrd 2 seeing what I’m sure is going 2 be a spectacular halftime show. There is no hologram. 🙏🏽💋 pic.twitter.com/mhVXBfBa1B
— SheilaEdrummer (@SheilaEdrummer) February 4, 2018

Sunday’s Super Bowl LII between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles takes place at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Prince‘s home town. Prince previously performed the halftime show of Super Bowl XLI in 2007, considered by many to be one of the best halftime performances ever done.

The pop singer was 57 years-old when he died on April 21, 2016 at his Paisley Park mansion outside of of Minneapolis in what would later be determined as a accidental fentanyl poisoning.

Sources originally told TMZ on Saturday that Timberlake intended on dedicating a portion of his halftime performance to Prince that would include the use of a hologram of the iconic singer’s image. Other rumors include a reunion of Timberlake’s 1990s boy band *NSYNC and a reunion with Janet Jackson from the infamous 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show, though both rumors have been discredited.

Previous “resurrected” performers include Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Ronnie James Dio, Eazy E and Ol’ Dirty Bastard at a variety of concerts and award show performances. It doesn’t appear that the “Purple Rain” singer will join that group anytime soon.