FCC reviewed Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime transcripts
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance, explained
USA TODAY’s Rebecca Morin dives into Bad Bunny’s halftime performance and five easter eggs you may have missed.
The Federal Communications Commission requested transcripts of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show from NBC after Republican lawmakers suggested it could violate federal indecency regulations, a member of the commission told Reuters Feb. 18.
Commissioner Anna Gomez said she reviewed the transcripts of the performance after she learned the commission had requested them. She told the wire service that she found “no violation of our rules and no justification for harassing broadcasters over a standard live performance.”
The New York Post reported that the FCC does not plan to review the matter further barring further evidence, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The performance, primarily in Spanish, was a celebration a celebration of Puerto Rican and Latin American culture. It touched on the island territory’s history and complex relationship with the United States.
It drew backlash from conservatives, with President Donald Trump describing it in a Feb. 8 Truth Social post as “absolutely terrible” and “an affront to the Greatness of America.“
USA TODAY reached out to NBC, its parent company Comcast and the FCC for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
Republicans demanded investigation
Two Republican congressmen called for investigations by the FCC into the show.
Florida Rep. Randy Fine said that he was alerting the chairman of the FCC about what he called the Grammy-winning Puerto Rican musical artist’s “disgusting halftime show,” claiming it was “illegal” in a Feb. 9 post on X
“Had he said these lyrics – and all of the other disgusting and pornographic filth in English on live TV, the broadcast would have been pulled down and the fines would have been enormous,” Fine wrote ” We are sending @BrendanCarrFCC a letter calling for dramatic action, including fines and broadcast license reviews, against the @NFL, @nbc, and ‘Bad Bunny.’ Lock them up.”
USA TODAY Network reporters who are fluent in Spanish listened to a replay of the performance and they said many of the explicit lyrics shared by Fine were genuine translations of songs but weren’t part of the performance. One of the reporters said Bad Bunny often mumbled through the expletives or cut off the word entirely in the show. Another Network reporter pointed out the songs were not performed in their entirety.
GOP Rep. Andy Ogles, of Tennessee, called the performance “pure smut” in calling for an investigation, saying it featured “explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air” in a Feb. 9 social media post.
He sent a letter to fellow Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie, of Kentucky, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, demanding an inquiry into the NFL and media company NBCUniversal over what he claims is their “prior knowledge, review, and approval” of the music superstar’s performance.
“These flagrant, indecent acts are illegal to be displayed on public airways,” Ogles said on X. “American culture will not be mocked or corrupted without consequence.”
Contributing: USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida; Reuters
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