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Home / Sport

More than 1300 complaints filed after Jennifer Lopez and Shakira's halftime show at Super Bowl LIV

NZ Herald
26 Feb, 2020 07:15 PM2 mins to read

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2020 Super bowl Halftime show. Video / ESPN
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While Jennifer Lopez and Shakira's Super Bowl LIV halftime show was hailed by many, more than 1300 viewers filed complaints to the Federal Communications Commission in the hours following the performance.

The complaints, which were obtained by US station WFAA, flooded in from 49 States – with all but Vermont accounted for.

The performance saw the two pop stars sing some of their hits in very much a pop concert setting – with scant outfits and elaborate dance routines.

"The show was not appropriate for a general audience. It was sexually explicit and would have been considered soft porn not many years ago," one Wyoming viewer wrote to the FCC, which regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States.

Jennifer Lopez performed during the halftime show at Super Bowl LIV. Photo / Getty Images
Jennifer Lopez performed during the halftime show at Super Bowl LIV. Photo / Getty Images
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"I do not subscribe to The Playboy Channel, we do not buy porn for $20 a flick, we simply wanted to sit down as a family and watch the Super Bowl," wrote a viewer from Tennessee. "God forbid we expected to watch football and a quick concert but instead had our eyes molested."

"The entire program was soft porn. How do these performers and the NFL get away showing the content of this show," a viewer from South Carolina wrote.

Instead of only issuing a complaint, a viewer from Indiana offered a recommendation for next year's show.

"No pole dancing, no nudity, no crotch grabbing, no indecent costumes. Just good music. Could be inspirational or uplifting or even patriotic."

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This year's Super Bowl reached an audience of approximately 102 million viewers, meaning the complaints received by the FCC accounted for just one one-thousandth of a percent of all viewers. Meanwhile, the performance has been viewed more than 130 million times on Youtube.

I could watch Shakira + JLo perform this halftime show forever. #SuperBowl #SuperBowlLIV

— Olivia Munn (@oliviamunn) February 3, 2020

They really shut it down!!!! Congrats on that amazing SuperBowl Halftime Show @shakira @JLo 🔥🔥🔥 🏈 🏈🏈

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 3, 2020

ALRIGHT!!!!!! now THAT was a GLOBAL Super Bowl halftime performance!!!!!! STUNNING- WE LOOOOOOOOVED IT! CONGRATS @JLo, @shakira and the whole ensemble AND CREW !!!!!! -KU #SuperBowlLIV

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) February 3, 2020

In comparison, 2004's infamous halftime show with Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction drew 540,000 complaints in the following weeks.

You can read all 1312 complaints about the Super Bowl LIV halftime show here.

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