Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The FCC complaints for Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show have been released, and many of them are just outright bizarre. Of course, Drake was mentioned more than once.
Considering Kendrick Lamar’s performance during halftime of the blowout game between the Chiefs and the Eagles drew an average viewership record of 133.5 million people, the actual number of FCC complaints was pretty small.
According to TMZ and The Hill, there were 125 complaints lodged with the Federal Communications Commission. Among the issues people had with Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show were too much swearing, his only using Black performers and being divisive with his set, and the split American flag visual.
People also complained to the FCC about crotch-grabbing, and at least 10 of the 125 complaints were about Kendrick Lamar using the show for his “personal vendetta” against arch-nemesis Drake.
“Kendrick lamar made fake false and scandalous claims that are unfounded. He sd drake was a pedophile on TV in front of million of ppl, do better, this is a sad day,” one complaint read.
“The halftime show was terrible with the language and gestures. My younger kids did not need to see and hear this!” read another one.
“For the next Super Bowl, please consider hiring musical entertainment that is family friendly and not socially or politically centered,” someone else complained. “It would be a nice change to have entertainment that truly shows what America should be; family, country, decency and respect. It is tiresome to have to send children out of the room during what should be a family event due to possible vulgarity and inappropriate language/gestures.”
“All these people complain about racism and if the Super Bowl halftime show isn’t racist then I don’t know what is. There wasn’t one white person in the whole show,” another viewer complained.
Tennis legend Serena Williams was also targeted in a few complaints for her appearance in the halftime show and for promoting “gang affiliation” with her Crip Walk dance moves.
For comparison, Kendrick Lamar received more complaints than Rihanna did for her Super Bowl halftime show performance in 2024 (103), less than the 1,312 complaints Shakira and Jennifer Lopez received in 2020, more than the 33 FCC complaints the 2022 show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and other hip-hop stars, and significantly less than the over 540,000 complaints that were made after Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s infamous performance at Super Bowl XXXVI.