Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Received 125 FCC Complaints
Most complaints noted Lamar’s performance wasn’t appropriate for all ages or was politically provocative. A viewer from Lenox, IL bemoaned that their children should not have experienced the show: “My younger kids did not need to see and hear this!” That viewer also complained about “the language and gestures.”
Another complaint also noted profanity and gestures as the source of their ire. “For the next Super Bowl, please consider hiring musical entertainment that is family friendly and not socially or politically centered… It would be a nice change to have entertainment that truly shows what America should be; family, country, decency and respect.”
That viewer continued, “It is tiresome to have to send children out of the room during what should be a family event due to possible vulgarity and inappropriate language/gestures.”
Some even called the show “racist” against white people. An Ocean City, MD resident said, “They get away with it but if it was all white it would be a different story. The halftime show should have both Black and white and be appropriate for everyone.” A Daytona Beach, FL viewer continued with a similar opinion: “I want to know why is it that there was not one white person involved???? I felt discriminated against and why was Uncle Sam Black when Uncle Sam is white?” Uncle Sam, is notably personified in a 1917 poster as a white man. Uncle Sam, however, is not real.
It should be noted that Lamar’s performance, and all previous Super Bowl Halftime Shows, are censored for profanity. The FCC receives complaints every year for Super Bowl halftime performers; according to Rolling Stone, Rihanna’s 2023 show drew 100 pages of grievances. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s 2020 show received at least 1,000 complaints with one viewer stating their “eyes [were] molested.”