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Bad Bunny performs during the half time show at Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. FCC records show more than 2,000 complaints tied to the performance at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny\u2019s Super Bowl LX halftime show<\/a> at Levi\u2019s Stadium drew more than a massive TV audience. It also generated more than 2,000 complaints<\/a> to the Federal Communications Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n The FCC released five batches of viewer complaints<\/a> this month tied to the Feb. 8 game, which NBC broadcast from Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara. There were 2,158 entries,<\/a> most focused on the Apple Music halftime show starring the Puerto Rican superstar, objecting to the Spanish-language performance, sexually suggestive choreography and what they described as inappropriate content during a family broadcast.<\/p>\n Texas viewers filed the most, with 226, followed by Florida with 182 and California with 156, according to the FCC release.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The agency previously reviewed Bad Bunny\u2019s performance and found no violation<\/a> of federal broadcast standards.<\/p>\n But the newly released records<\/a> show how one of the Bay Area\u2019s biggest televised events became a national flashpoint over language, culture, sexuality, immigration and what viewers expect from the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMy concern is not about language, heritage, or identity, but about the appropriateness of the content presented during a family-viewing time slot,\u201d one Nebraska viewer wrote.<\/p>\n Bad Bunny\u2019s performance, staged at the 49ers\u2019 home stadium, was delivered largely in Spanish and featured Puerto Rican and Latin American cultural imagery. It included appearances by Lady Gaga and fellow Puerto Rican artist Ricky Martin, and ended with the phrase \u201cTogether, we are America.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For fans, the halftime show was a milestone for Latin music on one of the world\u2019s largest pop culture stages. For complainants, it was something else entirely.<\/p>\n Those viewers repeatedly argued<\/a> that Spanish-language lyrics should be held to the same standards as English lyrics and were upset that \u201cbad words\u201d said in Spanish were not censored. Some said they understood Spanish or had children who did. Others said they looked up translations after the broadcast.<\/p>\n Many objected less to specific lyrics than to the fact that the performance was largely in Spanish. Several complaints included anti-immigrant or anti-Latino remarks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are illegals on my TV screen,\u201d one North Carolina viewer wrote. \u201cI don\u2019t understand Spanish, but I think I heard inappropriate language.\u201d<\/p>\n A Charlotte, N.C., viewer cited the songs \u201cSafaera\u201d and \u201cYo Perreo Sola,\u201d writing that the performance included \u201covertly sexualized movements, including widespread twerking, grinding, pelvic thrusts and other sexually suggestive conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the most disgusting inappropriate show,\u201d a viewer in Las Vegas wrote. \u201cI had to make all of my children go into the next room!\u201d<\/p>\n Some compared the show to the 2004 Super Bowl halftime controversy involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. In that case, the FCC fined CBS<\/a> a record $550,000.<\/p>\n Many asked the FCC to do the same and fine NBC, the NFL, Apple Music, Bad Bunny and\/or others involved in the production.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Bad Bunny was not the only subject of this year\u2019s wave of Super Bowl broadcast gripes.<\/p>\n