Jay Z is setting the record straight. The Roc Nation honcho told a crowd at Columbia University, on Tuesday, that he and Beyonce sitting during the National Anthem at the Super Bowl was NOT an act of protest, as most people had assumed.

"It actually wasn’t. Sorry. If I wanted to make a statement] I’d tell you. … I’d say, ‘Yes, that’s what I’ve done.’ I think people know that about me," Jay told the audience.

The rapper, 50, said he and his wife we discussing Demi Lovato's performance and the technical aspects but also Demi's personal journey through an overdose to being on stage at the Super Bowl and belting it out. Jay said that because Beyonce has performed at the biggest sporting event in the nation, she was telling him what it was like to be in Lovato's spot: "Like, she’s super nervous because she’s performed at Super Bowls before. I haven’t,” he said. “So we get there and we immediately jump into artist mode. …Now I’m really just looking at the show. Did the mic start? Was it too low to start? … I had to explain to them [that] as an artist, if you don’t feel the music, you can’t really reach that level."

He said it was as the performance ended, that he got a text telling him people were freaking out over him and Beyonce staying in their seats during the anthem: "We’re talking about how beautiful she [Demi] looked and how she sounds and what she’s going through and her life — for her to be on the stage, we were so proud of her. And then it finished and then my phone rang. And it was like, ‘You know you didn’t [stand up].’ I’m like, ‘What?'"

And though he and Bey have consistently supported Colin Kaepernick and his take-a-knee protests, Jay said this moment was not about that: "We wouldn’t do that to Blue and put her in that position." He said, "[we] didn’t have to make a silent protest” because halftime performers Jennifer Lopez and Shakira “were making the loudest statement” with their Latin-themed performance, referencing immigration and inclusivity.

Damn right they did!