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.
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"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."
