"It's a rumour."

Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine has responded to speculation that the US group will play the Super Bowl Halftime Show next year, only days after 40,000 people signed a petition for the band to turn down the controversial gig.

The ‘Moves Like Jagger’ group are yet to officially confirm their involvement amid strong speculation, but a Change.org petition urges them to down the gig and stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick – who famously kneeled during the US National Anthem as a protest against police brutality.

As Levine appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday (November 16), he did little to dispel the rumours when the host asked if the group would be headlining the performance in Atlanta next February.

“What the hell are you talking about? It’s a rumour. I can neither confirm nor deny the truth of this rumour”, Levine responded.

“It’s definitely a rumour. And the rumour’s a rumour that everyone seems to be discussing. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s a great event and there’s gonna be a band performing… or an artist of some kind performing at halftime. And it’s gonna be great, regardless of who it is.”

The initial petition urged Maroon 5 to show their support for Kaepernick – who has struggled to find a new club since leaving the San Francisco 49ers in 2017.

Last month, Amy Schumer urged the band to turn the offer down after it was reported that Rihanna had shunned the Half Time show to stand in solidarity with Kaepernick.

“Rihanna was the front-runner for next year’s super bowl halftime show,” a source told Entertainment Tonight last month. On recent song ‘Apeshit’, rap titan Jay-Z also claimed that he too had turned down the chance to headline the show.