SUPER BOWL
Rihanna’s sign language interpreter for Super Bowl show goes viral
Rihanna’s Super Bowl sign language interpreter Justina Miles becomes an internet sensation
Justina Miles took the internet by storm for her sign language interpretation of Rihanna’s performance for Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII halftime show.
The 20-year-old deaf American Sign Language performer put on a show that rivaled even that of Rihanna’s, powerfully interpreting each of the 12 songs in Rihanna’s halftime show set.
A memorable performance by Miles
The performer danced and enunciated every powerful word in Rihanna’s song “B—- Better Have My Money,” and emoted the tone and essence of each song solely with the power of sign language.
“Listen, Justina Miles has BEEN that girl! Our good sis was the ASL interpreter last night at the #SuperBowl and did her thing!” BET tweeted.
Other fans tweeted their enthusiasm and support for Miles’ performance.
A first for Black deaf performers
Miles became the first Black female deaf performer at the Super Bowl halftime show.
“I value the opportunity to make it possible for all deaf people to enjoy these songs, and not have them miss out on the full Super Bowl experience,” she told CNBC’s Make It in an email.
Miles also put on a heartfelt performance for the pre-show song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” sung by Emmy-award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph. The song, written by James Weldon Johnson in 1900, is known as the Black national anthem and was most prominently used as a rallying cry in the 1950s and 60s during the Civil Rights Movement.
“That song represents resilience for me,” Miles said in a press conference before the show.
“It’s not only for me to share this experience with the whole world, but to bring that empowerment to millions and millions of Black deaf people all over the country who’ve never really seen that before.”
An Internet sensation
Miles’ performance of the halftime show isn’t the first time she’s gone viral. The Philadelphia native and HBCU Bowie State University nursing student went viral back in 2020 for her TikTok #crushonyouchallenge video.
She signs a verse of Lil Kim’s 1997 song “Crush on You,” and pays homage to the music video.
She was also a member of the USA team that went to the 2021-2022 Deaflympics in Brazil, winning a silver medal for the 4x100 women’s track relay team.