Bad Bunny Complaints ‘Politically Motivated,’ FCC Commissioner Says

It's been more than 20 years

since that infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction

with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.

There was a flood of outcry at the time,

and then we here at Wired reported

during this year's Super Bowl halftime performance,

the FCC actually received hundreds of complaints

over Bad Bunny's halftime performance.

Those two incidents strike me as vastly different

in tenor and and substance, but what do you make of that?

I mean, did it surprise you to see that level

of outcry around a performance

that was done in another language?

I mean, that seemed to be sort of the predominant complaint.

Did that feel politically motivated to you?

It was very clear that the backlash

against the Bad Bunny performance was,

in fact, politically motivated.

It was ginned up for political reasons.

We, in fact, got a complaint from a member of Congress

about the halftime show and the supposed obscenity of it.

Now, I'm a native speaker, I read the lyrics

'cause we got the lyrics.

There was absolutely nothing obscene about them,

But it was designed, I think, to create outreach.

And the FCC has no role here,

and in fact, the FCC took no action

because there was no violation of our rules

and we're not here to tell broadcasters

who they can put on in their halftime shows,

what their talent is, or what they say.

That is not our role.

Our role is to make sure that they use the airwaves

that we give them to serve their local communities.

And I gotta say, with that performance,

I thought it was magnificent,

and I certainly felt very well served

by Bad Bunny in that moment.

It was fantastic. It was incredible.

I watched it multiple times the next day.