The rapper also gives the (at press time) losing Detroit Lions a pep talk: “This game is not over!”
Jack Harlow, like Luke Skywalker on Hoth, emerged from an ice cave in the end zone of Ford Field to perform during halftime at the Detroit Lions’ traditional Thanksgiving Day NFL game. When Harlow made his appearance — all bundled up in the domed stadium — the hometown Lions were losing 23-6 to the visiting Green Bay Packers.
Harlow, a Louisville, Kentucky, native (as he shouted out at the end of the performance), lit into “Whats Poppin,” off his 2020 album Thats What They All Say, as an unidentified young hype man in a Lions varsity jacket and Scott Farkus coonskin cap gestured behind him before disappearing back into the igloo. (It was head-scratching stuff, on par with the usual cavalcade of outrageousness that was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, held earlier in the day with Cher in New York.)
Harlow, who appeared on Rolling Stone’s March 2022 cover, then made his way from his ice cave to the field, where he was joined by the Lions cheerleaders to perform “Industry Baby” and then a band for “First Class.”
With the Lions so behind at the half, it was a tough gig for Harlow, but he powered through. “Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much. My name is Jack Harlow. I’m from Louisville, Kentucky,” he said at the culmination, offering the Detroit fans some encouragement: “This game is not over!”
Alas, it was: The Packers beat the Lions 29-22. Harlow isn’t the only music star doing Thanksgiving Day duty: Dolly Parton will perform in support of her album Rockstar during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders game in Arlington, Texas, later today.