New England Patriots

Jay-Z attends Patriots’ game, but celebrates the Bills’ win

Bills quarterback Josh Allen wasn't sure if the 24-time Grammy Award winner knew who he was.

Jay-Z attended Thursday's Patriots-Bills game at Gillette Stadium. AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn

A day after the Celtics hosted the royals at their home game against the Heat, the Patriots hosted rap royalty at Gillette Stadium when they took on the Bills Thursday night.

Jay-Z attended Thursday night’s Patriots loss to the Bills, sitting next to owner Robert Kraft in his suite. After the game though, it was the Bills who Jay-Z went to see. He congratulated Bills quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Gabe Davis in the tunnel after their 24-10 win.

Jay-Z was at Thursday night’s Patriots-Bills game at Gillette Stadium.

Allen didn’t think Jay-Z was there to see him, though.

“We were walking by and I said, ‘What’s up Jay!’ and I just kept walking,” Allen said. “Then he said, ‘Gabe!’ because Gabe’s a RocNation (Jay-Z’s agency) guy, so he dapped up Gabe and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to say hi to him too.'”

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Allen called the moment “pretty cool.”

“Getting to meet someone like that, a guy so well respected in his area, it’s pretty cool,” Allen said.

Allen joked that he thought Jay-Z was “not sure he knew exactly who I was,” but that didn’t stop him from acting like a fan and appreciating the moment.

“Absolutely [I acted like a fan there],” Allen said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to say hi.’ I put my pride to say what’s up and yeah, you don’t get to do that too often.”

As for why Jay-Z was at the game, it isn’t exactly known. However, he has gotten close to Kraft in recent years. The 24-time Grammy Award winner teamed up with Kraft, along with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin and rapper Meek Mill, to create the REFORM Alliance in 2019.

The alliance was created in the aftermath of Meek Mill’s arrest and the time he spent in prison due to a probation violation he committed in 2018, with the alliance’s mission saying it wants “to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.”

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In 2021, Jay-Z was among a group to gift Kraft a Bentley for the six-time Super Bowl winner’s 80th birthday.

Jay-Z could be work colleagues with Kraft soon, too. He’s reportedly considering teaming up with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to make a joint bid to buy the Washington Commanders, whose current owners are exploring selling the team.

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