Jennifer Lopez and Shakira turned up the heat a tad too much during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show earlier this month, according to some armchair censors.
The Federal Communications Commission received over 1,300 complaints after some viewers of the 15-minute spectacle were offended by the entertainers’ risque choreography, suggestive pole-dancing and barely-there costumes.
“The half time show was very sexual in nature. I have never seen so many sex poses outside porn magazines,” a New York viewer said, noting the “sexy tongue wagging” and extreme “booty shaking.”
The consensus of the objections involve the family-friendly programming of grown men viciously attacking each other for sport being interrupted by an apparently too sensual extravaganza without any warning.
“Jennifer Lopez’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show was extremely explicit and completely unacceptable for a event where families including children are watching,” a Utah viewer said, according to CNN. “I had to send my children out of the room so that they weren’t exposed to something they should not have seen.”
Another viewer said, “I was not prepared to explain to my 11 yo daughter why Jennifer Lopez was dressed so scantily or why she kept grabbing her crotch. My daughter was asking if she was feeling sick from having so much skin showing.”
A complaint discovered by WFAA summed up the frustrations.
“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 Tennessee resident. “God forbid we expected to watch football and a quick concert but instead had our eyes molested.”
Some referred to the #MeToo movement and sex trafficking in their objections to the Fox broadcast, which drew in over 100 million viewers.
“No wonder there is sex trafficking when you call this family entertainment. And where’s the Me Too women? Do you not see the hypocrisy?” one wrote as another shared, “A disgusting spectacle was on display. Selling sex seems to be the job nowadays, despite human trafficking and the Me Too movement. Shame on Fox.”
Many of those offended are calling for a boycott of Pepsi, who sponsored the halftime show, and even the NFL itself.
“Jennifer Lopez’s gyrating on a stripper pole with her butt and her crotch smack in front of my eyes, my husband and children was an affront to women and children and violates your rules,” a viewer wrote. “I will be boycotting Pepsi and their products and unless you can guarantee a decent half time show next year, we will boycott the Super Bowl.”
However, reviews of the halftime show were mostly positive, with the New York Times describing it as “euphoria with a purpose” and a “no-nonsense affirmation of Latin pride and cultural diversity in a political climate where immigrants and American Latinos have been widely demonized.”
Last year, the FCC received only 94 complaints regarding Maroon 5’s take on the halftime show, where lead singer Adam Levine showed off his bare chest, according to NBC News. Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction in 2004 caused a record 540,000 complaints.
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