Sexually-charged Super Bowl halftime show spurred more than 1,300 FCC complaints: We ‘had our eyes molested’
Article By Rebecca Johnson // EEW Magazine Online // Controversy
While fans of global Latina icons Jennifer Lopez and Shakira may have enjoyed their Super Bowl LIV halftime show performance, many felt that the set was inappropriate for network television aimed at an audience that included minors.
The sensual dance movies, form-fitting outfits, and the presence of a stripper pole on stage resulted in more than 1,300 Federal Communications Commission complaints hours after the Feb. 2 national broadcast.
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Broadcasting station WFAA, that obtained the records through a Freedom of Information Act, quoted one Wyoming viewer who said, "The show was not appropriate for a general audience. It was sexually explicit and would have been considered soft porn not many years ago.”
The widespread complaints came from viewers across 49 states with many comparing the halftime show to the type of X-rated content that is reserved for adults’ eyes only.
During the show that drew 102 million total viewers on Fox and all its platforms, Shakira offered up her infamous hip-shaking moves, a belly dance, some rope dancing and a crowd surf. Lopez broke out her stripper-inspired pole-dancing moves— a reference to her movie “Hustlers” about exotic dancers.
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A complainant from Illinois called the mini concert “disgusting and offensive,” and asked, “How can they put this on when children are watching?”
A Michigan viewer, who filed a complaint before the game ended, said, “How is a strip club act allowed as a half time show on the biggest watched game of the year?”
Another outraged viewer from Tennessee said, "We simply wanted to sit down as a family and watch the Super Bowl. God forbid we expected to watch football and a quick concert but instead had our eyes molested."
Most of the 1,312 complaints read by EEW Magazine Online’s editorial staff were from concerned parents that saw the performance as being indecent and the opposite of family-friendly.
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Someone from Salt Lake City, Utah said, “I invited my kids and grandkids over to watch the Super Bowl and spend some family time together. The halftime show was pornographic and a horrible example of objectifying women to be seen as sex objects rather than showcasing their musical talents.”
In Pennsylvania, one viewer expressed sentiments very close to feelings shared by most complaitants, saying, “For prime time TV and with lots of young, impressionable viewers, the ‘dancing’ was vulgar. This platform was not suitable for this highly anticipated venue. Crossed the line big time.”
Texas yielded the highest number of complaints—nearly 140—according to the report. Vermont was the only state with no complaints filed. In total, all complaints received by the FCC represented one one-thousandth of a percent of all viewers.
