Bad Bunny's halftime show at this year's Super Bowl was widely received as a milestone for Latin music and Puerto Rican culture on America's most prominent pop cultural stage.
However, not everyone thought the same.
The Federal Communications Commission has released a slew of viewer complaints against the musician, the show's broadcast partner, NBC, and the NFL.
Many of them expressed outrage over the alleged obscenity of Bad Bunny's Spanish lyrics and dancing on a broadcast watched by children.
“That was the most disgusting and inappropriate sight. I had to make all my kids go into the next room!” wrote one traumatized Las Vegas viewer. “No one uses [sic] “Inappropriate language should remain no matter what language it is in. This is the most disturbing thing I have witnessed on live television in a long time.”
“The NFL halftime show showed two men having sex behind the door of a pickup truck,” wrote one horrified Ohioan. “NFL ratings [sic] “I made it safe for my children to see it, but they witnessed this and got upset.”
Another viewer from Charlotte, North Carolina, who, admittedly, seemed familiar with Bad Bunny's catalog, wrote that they “take issue with the vocal performances of 'Safaera,' which is a song widely known for its explicit sexual references and graphic lyrical content, and 'Yo Perreo Sola,' which had choreography that featured overtly sexualized movements, including generalized twerking, pelvic thrusting, and other sexually suggestive behavior.”
Those viewers were likely dissatisfied with the FCC's review of the performance in February, which found that the songs' lyrics had been appropriately altered for broadcast.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) had asked the FCC to investigate the broadcast. “What Americans witnessed during the Super Bowl halftime show with Bad Bunny was despicable and should never be allowed to be shown on television again,” Fine told the New York Post.
Many of the viewers' complaints mirror President Trump's criticism on social media after the show, calling the performance “one of the worst ever!”
“No one understands a word this guy says, and the dancing is disgusting, especially to little kids watching from all over America and around the world,” the president wrote at the time.
Just before the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny had won the Grammy for best album with “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” and joined a wave of artists who spoke out against the violent ICE raids in speeches at the ceremony. The superstar demurred from performing in the continental United States due to the raids and instead held a lengthy residency in Puerto Rico.
