According to a new TMZ report, Kendrick Lamar’s performance at halftime of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans led to more than 100 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission.
The Feb. 9 concert, which aired on Fox, received 125 complaints noting Lamar’s racial commentary, provocative dance moves, gang references and more. Of the 125, TMZ reports that 10 explicitly focused on Lamar furthering his ugly beef with hip-hop rival Drake.
TMZ even provided an example of one of the complaints regarding the Lamar-Drake feud:
“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.”
Beyond Lamar’s performance, which included hits such as “All the Stars” and “They Not Like Us,” the FCC revealed three complaints about a commercial that aired for Kanye West’s apparel site.
According to the Wall Street Journal, that advertisement aired on local Fox-owned affiliate networks in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. When users clicked on the site, the featured item was a plain, white T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika. In response, the CEO of Fox Television Stations sent an internal memo apologizing to the company’s employees.
With hundreds of millions of Americans tuning into the Super Bowl each year, it is not surprising to see dozens of official complaints registered to the FCC. But admittedly, this year’s big game was rolled into two major music industry controversies involving pedophilia and antisemitism that had to leave viewers rankled and confused.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.