'Love & Hip Hop' Star Bridget Kelly Defends Jay Z's NFL Deal (Exclusive)

Bridget Kelly is weighing in on the NFL Jay Z saga.

The "Love & Hip Hop" star defended her friend's decision to strike a deal with the football league, despite him supposedly supporting Colin Kaepernick's protest against it.

Last week the quarterback's girlfriend Nessa Diab called the alliance "disgusting and disappointing", and accused the NFL of "actively keeping Colin unemployed."

But according to Kelly: "Jay-Z is not responsible for making sure anybody gets a job."

"That's not really what it's about and at the end of the day are we about the activism or are we about the job, and I think they both picked a side," she said.

"He picked the side of activism, and there's also a huge, huge difference between raising awareness and actually being proactive to make change and I think he's inserted himself in a conversation with the NFL in a way that will, at some point, be transformative. I think we need to be open to that."

Kaepernick began his social injustice protest at the start of the 2016 season, when he refused to stand for the National Anthem during games.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he explained postgame when asked about it. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

The protest, which was joined by many players in the league, drew heavy criticism from some quarters, from as high up as the Oval Office, who considered it disrespectful to the flag and country. However Kaepernick stuck it out, even becoming the face of Nike's Just Do It campaign.

But he has not played in the league since.

Despite supporting Kaepernick's protest, Jay Z raised some eyebrows when he recently struck a deal with the league which would see him co-produce the Super Bowl Halftime show, and contribute to Inspire Change, a foundation the NFL started in response to public outrage over the protest.

Inevitably, Jay Z was asked by reporters if he too would stand or kneel at the games; he insisted we have "moved passed kneeling" — even though he still supported those who opted to.

"I think he answered the question very honestly," Kelly said. "It's bigger than that, it's always been bigger than that. For Colin Kaepernick I think it's bigger than that. It's bigger than his job. It's always bigger than his job. That was the whole point."

"It was about raising awareness for the injustice and I think the awareness has been raised," she added. "Now it's about implementing the change, and the activism and I think Jay-Z is at the forefront of that. So, there's no better person to lead that charge with the NFL."