Even before Bad Bunny took to the field, his Super Bowl halftime performance drew controversy, especially from MAGA influencers upset over the Puerto Rican star’s comments against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the fact that he sings in Spanish.
Following the performance, which was watched by more than 128 million people, those complaints continued—but they were largely focused on perceived vulgarity in the artist’s performance.
Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from WIRED, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates communications including broadcast, released 2,155 complaints the agency received about the Super Bowl, most of which were about the halftime show. Many of the complaints focused on the fact that the show was not in English, but a chunk of those people were upset about indecency in the Spanish lyrics. Others expressed discomfort with the dancing they saw onscreen.
“Bad Bunny performed these lyrics live without apparent censorship,” wrote one viewer from Leighton, Alabama. “Dancers engaged in perreo-intense grinding, hip thrusting, and twerking simulating sexmirroring the lyrics [sic]. Cameras captured close-ups of suggestive contact and pelvic motions, amplifying the explicit nature.”
Some viewers complained that their children understand Spanish and they didn’t like those kids hearing Bad Bunny’s lyrics. Still more, like one viewer from Indiana, said that even though they didn’t speak Spanish, they looked up translations of the lyrics later and were upset.
An analysis of the FCC complaints over Bad Bunny’s halftime show by WIRED found the top three states for complaints were Texas, Florida, and California, in that order. Four hundred and ninety-seven complaints contained the word “vulgar,” 735 contained the word “Spanish,” and 919 contained Bad Bunny’s name.
The number of complaints pale in comparison to the number of people who watched the historic show, which featured Lady Gaga, a wedding, and a cameo from Maria Antonia Cay, the beloved proprietor of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Social Club. All told, the performance was watched more than 4 billion times on broadcast, YouTube, and social media, according to the NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation, which produces the halftime show.
At least one complaint made reference to the immigration status of the performers. “There are illegals on my TV screen,” said the viewer from Raleigh, North Carolina. “I don’t understand Spanish, but I think I heard inappropriate language.” (Bad Bunny is Puerto Rican, and as such a US citizen.)
A few days after Bad Bunny’s performance in February, Republican lawmakers called for the FCC to investigate the NFL and NBC, which broadcast the event. FCC commissioner Anna Gomez subsequently requested transcripts of the performance, which aired on NBC and found no violations. “I reviewed them carefully, and I found no violation of our rules and no justification for harassing broadcasters over a standard live performance,” Gomez told Reuters.
Representatives for Bad Bunny and NBC did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Some 30 complaints referenced the two men seen dancing with each other during the performance. “On top of incredibly inappropriate songs and lyrics there was also depictions of gay sex openly on the screen and other inappropriate sexual innuendos,” wrote a viewer from Winstead, Connecticut. “This is incredibly inappropriate and not okay when there are CHILDREN WATCHING.”
“I watched this at my local Dave and Busters and saw many parents visibly disturbed during the halftime performance with many leaving the viewing area until the event concluded,” complained one viewer from Incline Village, Nevada.
Thirty of the complaints about the Super Bowl halftime show contain President Trump’s common Truth Social sign-off “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Super Bowl halftime performances frequently receive FCC complaints, often reflecting sociopolitical talking points. While the Bad Bunny complaints seemed reflective of the United States’ discourse over immigration and ICE, Kendrick Lamar’s show last year received 125 complaints, many of them focusing on the performance’s lack of white people amidst right-wing outcry over DEI.
