Updates on SB Controversy: NAD apology; petition; Shaheem; Love Sign

Alex (Daily Moth): Here are several updates on the Super Bowl controversy in the Deaf community.

The National Association of the Deaf’s President Jenny Buechner posted a video on behalf of the NAD Board to apologize for “the harm caused.” Buechner said they are “actively engaging in discussions regarding the impact of the transparency of the selection process, and access on television relating to the Super Bowl Pregame and Halftime for the ASL performances.”

The reactions to the video, based on comments under NAD’s videos on Instagram and Facebook, was mostly critical for two main reasons. The first is that the apology video should have come from the NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum because he’s the one who represented the NAD in this year and previous years’ Super Bowls. The second is that the apology video looked almost identical to a previous NAD apology video in 2022 by the then-president Melissa Draganac-Hawk about that year’s Super Bowl controversy.

The second update is that there is a petition on Change.org started by “Randal Pituk and Friends.” It raised concerns that the NAD has failed to hold the same standards for accessibility for the NFL/broadcasting networks as it has for Netflix with captions in 2012 and the White House for live interpreting in 2021. The petition also calls for the NAD Board to investigate whether any parties involved in the selection process for the ASL performers/interpreters are exploiting the situation for personal gain, on if there are any conflicts of interest. The petition has garnered over 5,100 signatures since yesterday. Today, Pituk said in a public statement that those who crafted the petition insist that there should be a public apology from Howard Rosenbaum and the NAD Board instead of just the NAD President Buechner.

I’ve included the links to NAD’s video and the petition in the description and transcript.

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The third update is that I did an interview with Shaheem Sanchez, who performed for the ASL halftime show this year, on Wednesday. Here are a few clips.

(Begin interview)

Alex: The statement you said, “How do you like me now?”...

[Video clip from CBS Sports showing Shaheem signing, “How do you like me now?”]

Alex: Some — actually many people — felt like you were mad with the Deaf community or with specific Deaf people. Can you explain where you got that line from?

Shaheem: Oh, I didn’t know that everyone got mad at me for that. I saw that going viral and the criticism for saying that. But I thought I was supposed to follow the lyrics of the song, right? It says here on the list.

[Shaheem pulls up a binder that has the Super Bowl LVIII logo on the front of it with the words ``National Association of the Deaf” and “Shaheem Sanchez'' on it. Shaheem flips through several pages to show a page with the words, “How you like me, Like me now.”]

Alex: You’ve shown evidence from the binder. It wasn’t your impulsive statement.

Shaheem: I was just following it.

Alex: I get that. Now, the second thing is your interview with CBS Mornings. It looked like you were dissing last year’s halftime show. You said it was “more like interpreting, while mine was more of a performance.”

[Video clip from CBS Mornings showing Shaheem saying, “This year they chose me. It’s going to hit different because we’re actually making history because last year, is more of like, just like interpreting, so this year we have more of a performance. There’s dancing and signing, breaking that into one to show that it’s a show…”]

Alex: Could you explain that?

Shaheem: That’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I was saying that last year was more about signing music, but this year we had a performance with dancing with a partner. I thought maybe that was historical. You didn’t see dancing last year or two years ago. You’ve never seen a dancing pair like Usher and the two women, Alicia Keys and H.E.R. She had the role of the women and I was Usher. We signed and danced. I thought maybe that was different. That’s why I said it may be historical. I didn’t mean that I am better than all others, than last year. I support and am grateful for JTay (Justina Miles) and her phenomenal talent. I was not talking about her. I was saying last year, generally, there were no dancing pairs. That’s my clarification. I didn’t mean to offend anyone.

I don’t mean to hurt the Deaf community. If you feel that I hurt the Deaf community, I apologize. It was not my… you know what I mean.

Alex: I understand. Your halftime—

Shaheem: —I was following whatever… the performance. And I had to learn the lyrics only two days before the Super Bowl. There was not enough time to rehearse. Only two days before. I stayed there for five days and only practiced for the last two days. I got a new set list.

[Shaheem flips through his binder]

Shaheem: It’s impossible for a Deaf person to learn all that just two days before the Super Bowl! Is that possible? No! I can’t. I need more time to rehearse and perfect my signing and dancing. That’s why, of course, I’m not happy with the performance. But my favorite thing was the partner, I liked that part, that was the best one. For myself… No. I understand that all of you don’t want to see only dancing.

Alex: I can imagine that if I was given a list with only two days, it would be a lot of pressure.

Shaheem: That’s right. That’s why it’s not the NAD’s fault. I saw the NAD ask for the set list so we could practice. They said they would but we had to wait until two days before the Super Bowl. I saw the effort but the NFL, maybe they need to improve that. Because Deaf people can’t learn it at the last minute. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe some can, some can’t. For me, I’m talking specifically about me, I can’t. I’m Deaf and I have to learn. I need time to perfect my signing and my dancing. I can’t just do it on the spot. It looked horrible.

Alex: I saw some comments saying you shouldn’t have accepted that job for the halftime because it’s not your specialization to sign music.

Shaheem: Why not?

Alex: Because you usually dance. Choreography. That’s your talent. Many people respect you for your dancing abilities but signing lyrics — that seems different. Others say you shouldn’t have accepted that job. I’m curious about your response to that.

Shaheem: For me. If… I’m not only a dancer. I sign too. I’ve signed music ever since I was young, since I was sixteen. I then decided to integrate dancing with my signing. I don’t understand why others say that I’m not a professional. Yes, it’s my profession. I sign music. I’m into the music life too. If I’m dancing, it means there’s music, too. It’s not just dancing. I’ve always been dancing and signing. I sign all the time in my dance videos. So, I believe that I can — if you give me time to practice. With two months, I can. I don’t understand why they think I can’t sign music, that it’s not my profession. I understand that there are professionals out there. I have experience with ASL Music Camp. I’ve done festivals. I’ve been a part of concerts where I signed. I don’t do it as often, though. But I don’t know if I can’t. I don’t know that it was a big issue in the community. But now I get it, you mean professionals like Martise. I’ve seen him and his videos. He is a good signer. He is experienced. I’m not as experienced. I’m more of a dancer. I sign but the problem is why do you not believe in me? You all know that I dance and sign music. I’ve always signed music. Always have. I’m not only a dancer. I act, I sign music, and I dance and sign. Not just dance. I’m not just a dancer. I’m more than just a dancer. That’s it. So yeah.

I did my best. I know it was not a perfect performance for halftime, but I did my best. That’s why…

Alex: I think you explained as much as you can. Thank you for being willing to provide statements.

(End interview)

After that interview on Wednesday, not long after that, I saw people saying that Shaheem made posts on social media for JTay — Justina Miles, who performed last year’s halftime show — to show her audiogram to prove that she is deaf.

Today, Shaheem posted on his Instagram story and a video of an apology to JTay for telling her to prove her audiogram and for bringing up last year’s Super Bowl during the CBS Interview.

So now we have heard directly from Shaheem.

The fourth and last news update is that Love Sign — the company founded by Alexis Kashar who co-produced the ASL pre-game performances and the ASL Halftime show — at the time of signing this news this Friday afternoon, has not posted any type of response or comment about the Super Bowl controversy.

Links:

NAD Apology Video: https://shorturl.at/guwDN

Change.org Petition: https://shorturl.at/fjotZ

Shaheem: https://shorturl.at/sAFKX