Republican Randy Fine faces bipartisan mockery over Bad Bunny complaint: 'This is dumb'

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA: Rep Randy Fine (R-Fla) faced backlash from commentators across the political spectrum after urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance.

In a letter addressed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday, February 11, Fine alleged that the Latin music star’s show included illegal content during Sunday's live broadcast.

His remarks quickly drew responses from both conservative and liberal voices, many of whom criticized the call for a federal probe. The controversy unfolded as viewership data showed the game and halftime show attracted massive national audiences.

Randy Fine calls for FCC investigation as critics push back

In his letter, Fine argued that elements of the performance violated broadcast standards. 

“It doesn’t matter if you say it in Spanish. Encouraging children to use c*****e in a live television broadcast is a crime. It doesn’t matter who is singing. Broadcasting the F-word during the Superbowl is illegal," Fine wrote.

"Both of these things happened during Sunday’s Super Bowl Broadcast. The degenerates behind it must be held accountable,” he added.

He urged regulators to take action, stating, “I urge the FCC to conduct a thorough investigation and to pursue the maximum penalties permitted by law. Anything less would signal that indecency is tolerated so long as it is profitable, and that it is a message that cannot be allowed to stand.”

The call was met with criticism from commentators on both the right and the left. National Review’s Jeff Blehar wrote, “This man is one of the most desperately grasping frauds in the GOP caucus, and that really says something considering that he shares a state with Cory Mills.”

Washington Examiner contributor Kimberly Ross described the move as “This is dumb conservatism.”

Leighton Woodhouse commented, “The culture war slop from the right these days has arguably surpassed Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light, Kente cloth Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the dumbest liberal s**t from 2020.”

Columnist Ronald Brownstein wrote, “How it began: confident post-24 predictions of a Trump realignment among young Latino men. How it’s going: multiple Republicans demanding a federal investigation of probably most popular young Latino man in US, maybe the world?”

Super Bowl and halftime show draw massive audiences

The controversy came amid strong viewership numbers for Super Bowl LX.

According to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement system, Sunday’s game averaged 124.9 million US television viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NFL+, and other platforms.

While the figure fell short of last year’s 127.7 million viewers, the broadcast reached a peak audience of 137.8 million during the second quarter, setting a new record for peak viewership.

The Seattle Seahawks’ 29–13 victory over the New England Patriots drew widespread attention, though overall ratings did not surpass the prior year’s record-setting game.

Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched halftime performances in history.

However, it did not break the all-time record. The show ranked fourth overall, behind Kendrick Lamar (133.5 million in 2025), Michael Jackson (133.4 million in 1993), and Usher (129.3 million in 2024).

On YouTube, Bad Bunny’s official halftime performance had received 61,311,972 views as of Tuesday night. By comparison, an alternate halftime broadcast by TPUSA recorded 21,208,583 views on the organization’s page.