Pop star Rihanna made her grand return to the big stage with her performance during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
While fans were seemingly excited to see RiRi back in the grand spotlight, it turns out that her performance — along with her backup dancers — were too risqué for some viewers.
In all, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received 103 complaints from outraged people who thought the lyrics and choreography were too sexualized, with some going as far as to compare the show to pornography, according to TMZ.
One viewer in California thought the performance resembled Kim Petras and Sam Smith’s performance at the 65th Grammy Awards earlier in February, which they held a grudge against.
‘I don’t care what someone worships but children shouldn’t be exposed to pornography and as an adult I don’t wish to see it,’ wrote the viewer from the Golden State, adding, ‘Where has decency gone? How about respect for others and self?’
Outrage: Rihanna’s performance during the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show got more than 100 complaints to the FCC who were outraged over the sexualized dancing and lyrics, according to TMZ
FCC complaints: ‘I don’t care what someone worships but children shouldn’t be exposed to pornography and as an adult I don’t wish to see it,’ wrote the viewer from California, adding, ‘Where has decency gone? How about respect for others and self?’
Someone in the more conservative state of Utah was disgusted enough to complain that ‘the halftime show was so indecent I had to turn off the TV because of the pornographic content.’
While Rihanna, 35 — who revealed she was pregnant via her performance — was the star of the show, many of the complaints were actually geared at the supposedly ‘overtly sexual dancing’ of her backup dancers, along with the sexual content of some of her lyrics.
In fact, some of the complaints were from viewers who thought the dance moves ‘were patently offensive and completely inappropriate for children.’
Due to her pregnancy, the Barbados native didn’t go all out with the dancing, yet still there were alleged viewers who complained about how ‘she spread her a** cheek at the crack’ and ‘rubbed her pants where her labia were three times.’
The show kicked off with a closeup on RiRi, who was dressed rather conservatively in a red jumpsuit that covered her entire body.
As the camera shots pulled out, it was revealed that she was elevated high into the air at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Many of the dancers, who were dressed in full-body white suits with their heads covered with hoods, were also on their own small platforms suspended over the field where the Philadelphia Eagles had played to a 24–14 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs by halftime.
Rihanna did have her hand near her crotch region on a few occasions, which it appears was part of the outrage of some viewers.
Grand return: The show kicked off with a closeup on RiRi, who was actually dressed rather conservatively in a red jumpsuit that covered her entire body, and then pulled out to reveal her high in the air with some of her backup dancers
Too sexualized complaints: RiRi, who was pregnant at the time of her Super Bowl show, actually kept her dancing to minimum, but some of her lyrics and a few of her moves, where she had her hand near her crotch region, were targets of some viewers
The target: Many of the viewer complaints were directed at the moves of her backup dancers, who were dressed in full-body whit suits with their heads covered with hoods
The setlist: The pop star went on to play parts of six songs from her catalog of hits, include opener B**** Better Have My Money, along with Where Have You Been, Only Girl (In The World), We Found Love, Rude Boy and Work
The pop star went on to play parts of six songs from her catalog of hits, include opener B**** Better Have My Money, along with Where Have You Been, Only Girl (In The World), We Found Love, Rude Boy and Work.
Many people would surely agree that Rihanna’s show was tame compared to Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s famous — or infamous — wardrobe malfunction at Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2004.
The brief second that saw Jackson’s breast being exposed garnered a whopping 540,000 complaints to the FCC, which is a significantly larger amount than the ones issued for this past Super Bowl.
Rihanna is pregnant with her second child with partner ASAP Rocky, a rapper and record executive whom she’s been with since 2020.
The couple are already the proud parents of a son, who made his arriving on Planet Earth in May 2020.
While his lady was high in the sky singing, Rocky (born Rakim Athelaston Mayers), 34, was seen excitedly supporting her on the sidelines during the halftime show, filming her performance and dancing along, according to People.
Wardrobe malfunction: While RiRi’s show garnered 103 FCC complaints, that’s a far cry from the 540,000 issued for the Justin Timberlake and Janey Jackson performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas in 2004
Before giving birth to their baby boy, the singer, songwriter and entrepreneur told Elle that she thought she’d have a parenting style similar to The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice.
‘Teresa from Jersey does not play about her kids. She will flatten you about those kids. And that resonates with me a lot because I feel like that’s the type of mom I’m going to be,’ Rihanna told the outlet. ‘Psycho about it.’
In the end, the Chiefs, led by Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, made a late comeback to win Super Bowl LVII 38-35.
