GOP Congressmen Demand Investigation of Bad Bunny's 'Indecent' Super Bowl Halftime Show: 'Pure Smut'
- - GOP Congressmen Demand Investigation of Bad Bunny's 'Indecent' Super Bowl Halftime Show: 'Pure Smut'
Paloma ChavezFebruary 12, 2026 at 2:39 AM
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Bad Bunny headlines the Apple Music Halftime Show at Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026
Todd Rosenberg/Getty
A handful of Republican congressmen are calling for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show to be investigated for what one described as "explicit and indecent" content
GOP Reps. Randy Fine and Mark Alford called on the FCC to launch a probe, while Rep. Angy Ogles requested a formal congressional inquiry into the NFL and NBC
Even before the performance, MAGA allies slammed the NFL for selecting a Puerto Rican rapper as the halftime artist, leading conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA to organize a competing "All American Halftime Show"
A handful of Republican congressmen are calling for Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show to be investigated, with one describing the performance as “explicit and indecent.”
Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles sent a letter to the House of Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday, Feb. 9, demanding a “formal congressional inquiry” into the NFL and media company NBCUniversal over their approval and review process for the Puerto Rican rapper’s Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show performance.
In a post by Ogles, 54, on X, the congressman called Bad Bunny’s performance “pure smut.”
“Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air,” he claimed.
“And if that weren't outrageous enough, the performance's lyrics openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities," he added. "These flagrant, indecent acts are illegal to be displayed on public airways."
In Ogles’ letter — addressed to Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie, the Republican chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee — he suggests the songs performed are “widely known for explicit sexual references” and that the show featured “sexualized movements including widespread twerking, grinding, pelvic thrusts, and other sexually suggestive conduct.”
The letter accuses the NFL and the media network of not holding the halftime show, performed predominantly in Spanish, to the same content standards as English performances, saying the lyrics' “sexual content remained readily apparent across any language barrier.”
The letter asks the energy and commerce committee, which has jurisdiction over broadcast regulation and oversees the Federal Communications Commission, to look at the show’s translation and approval processes.
Florida Rep. Randy Fine and Missouri Rep. Mark Alford also took issue with the performance and suggested the FCC should get involved, with Fine saying the "disgusting halftime show was illegal" for its explicit content and "pornographic filth."
"We are sending [FCC chairman] Brendan Carr a letter calling for dramatic action, including fines and broadcast license reviews, against the NFL, NBC and 'Bad Bunny,' " Fine wrote on X. "Lock them up."
Alford told Newsmax, “This could be much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, let’s put it that way."
PEOPLE reach out to the NFL and NBC for comment.
PEOPLE previously reported that during Bad Bunny's 13-minute show, he led a joyful dance party that embraced his biggest hits, celebrated Puerto Rican culture, called attention to challenges the U.S. territory has faced and even featured a real wedding. It ended with a message of unity across the Americas, and displayed a billboard that read, "The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate is Love."
The backlash Bad Bunny received anyway — including harsh criticism from President Donald Trump, who had preemptively expressed frustration with the NFL's halftime pick — isn't the first instance of a Latino being scrutinized for their Super Bowl performance.
In 2020, after the Super Bowl LIV halftime show where Jennifer Lopez, of Puerto Rican descent, and Shakira, who is Colombian, took the stage, the FCC received 1,312 complaints from people in 49 states about their performance. Nearly 140 of the complaints originated from Texas, according to WFAA.
Some who complained reportedly said they believed the show wasn’t "appropriate" because of the amount of skin Shakira and Lopez had shown, and one complaint said the show “was 100 percent about sex and NOT even remotely family-friendly.”
The year prior, when Maroon 5's Adam Levine tore off his shirt to perform the halftime show, there were only 50 complaints issued.
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Bad Bunny’s performance averaged 128.2 million views, making it the fourth-most-watched halftime show of all time, behind Kendrick Lamar’s performance in 2025, Michael Jackson's in 1993 and Usher's in 2024, ESPN reported.
Turning Point USA — the conservative advocacy organization founded by Charlie Kirk and currently led by his wife, Erika — organized a competing halftime show in protest that the NFL picked a Puerto Rican rapper to perform this year. The "All American Halftime Show," headlined by MAGA ally Kid Rock, attracted 6.1 million views as of Sunday, Feb. 8, according to a spokesperson for the organization.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
