Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show Earns Record Nine Emmy Nominations Amid FCC Complaints

The Television Academy awarded Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio nine Emmy nominations on July 8 for his Super Bowl halftime show, Forbes reported. The total exceeds the previous record of six set by Lady Gaga's 2017 performance. The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8 received nominations in Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special, Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Special, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special.

Ocasio is nominated twice in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category, once as performer and once as producer under his legal name. Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin appeared as guest performers. The show marked the first Super Bowl halftime performance headlined by a Latino solo artist and the first performed almost entirely in Spanish.

It is the seventh consecutive Super Bowl halftime show to earn an Outstanding Variety Special (Live) nomination. Before the event, President Trump stated he had never heard of Bad Bunny. Turning Point USA organized a competing broadcast called The All-American Halftime Show.

The FCC received over 2,000 complaints about the performance. Bad Bunny won three Grammy Awards at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Música Urbana Album, and Best Global Music Performance with the album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, the first Spanish-language album to win Album of the Year. The 78th Emmy Awards are scheduled for September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.