The most controversial Super Bowl half-time show moments of all time

Sport and celebrity are often two sections of society many wish to be removed from politics – but the Super Bowl half-time show has time and time again been the place where that dream has gone to die.

From indecency resulting in fines to, well, more indecency resulting in fines to strong statements for social justice issues resulting in right-wing tears, half-time show performers have used their platforms over the years for wider issues.

Or, sometimes, the platform has resulted in them unwittingly having wider issues thrust upon them.

Read on to see the most controversial moments from Super Bowl half-time show performances over the years.

Kendrick Lamar's surprise guest (2025)

While everyone anticipated Kendrick Lamar to decimate Drake on the Super Bowl half-time stage amid their beef with his Grammy award-winning song Not Like Us.

What the audience didn't expect was another famous figure catching their attention.

Retired tennis player Serena Williams made a surprise guest appearance during the set.

Though the cameo only lasted seconds, it was enough to set the internet aflame, all due to the dance she chose to do.

Williams decided to do a dance known as the "Crip Walk" in the few precious seconds she had on screen, with the moves being loaded with personal and cultural meaning.

The "Crip walk" or "C-Walk" is a dance popularised by the Crips, and African-American alliance of street gangs.

The dance was generally done to declare triumph over rival gangs, and over time, it slowly made its way to hip hop and pop culture.

Williams had busted out the same moves when she beat Maria Sharapova and secured the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics at the Wimbledon court in London, only to be highly criticised for it in the media.

"What Serena did was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church," Fox Sports' Jason Whitlock said at the time.

But Williams, whose older half-sister Yetunde Price was killed by a member of the Southside Crips gang in 2003, said, "It was just a dance. I didn't know that's what it was called."

Over the years, the controversy has been labelled overblown and racist.

Another important bit of context to note is Williams and Drake reportedly dated on-and-off between 2011 and 2015.

Drake later referenced her in his 2013 song Worst Behavior and again in his 2022 song Middle of the Ocean, in which he called her now-husband Alexis Ohanian a "groupie."

Lamar also mentions Williams in the lyrics of Not Like Us, warning Drake he "better not speak on Serena."

Williams teaming up with Lamar to crip walk to a song about her ex gave an extra hard blow to Drake's reputation.

After her few seconds of dancing again ignited debate, Williams joked on social media, "Man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. Ooh, I would've been fined."

Prince's suggestive silhouette (2007)

Prince's 2007 half-time show was iconic for many reasons.

Not only did the artist show off his prowess with his own hits, such as Purple Rain and Let's Go Crazy, he also paid tribute to other musicians by covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary, Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, and the Foo Fighters' The Best Of You – all played amid a torrential downpour.

In the middle of his final song Purple Rain, he launched into a guitar solo as a beige sheet dropped in front of him, creating a rather interesting silhouette.

With his uniquely-shaped guitar, the artist's shadow as he manipulated his *ahem* instrument looked very suggestive.

The sight of it even caused one parent to write in one of the most memorable complaints to the Federal Communications Commission, where they claimed Prince's performance had turned their child gay and dashed their dreams of becoming a quarterback.

Red Hot Chili Pantomime (2014)

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers joined Bruno Mars on stage in 2014, fans were a little bit confused.

The band were playing their instruments as usual, but they appeared to be unplugged. Effectively, the band played over a recording of their own song, rather than playing it live.

"I understand the NFL's stance on this, given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the TV viewers," Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea later wrote on the band's website.

"There was not any room for argument on this, the NFL does not want to risk their show being botched by bad sound, period."

Fans not loving Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger (2019)

Years before Adam Levine's cheating scandal, he was making headlines for different reasons – but they also weren't great.

In 2019, Rihanna declined the opportunity to perform at the show, according to a source.

"Yes, they asked her, and yes, she declined," a source told People after Maroon 5 were confirmed to have filled the slot.

The source noted the singer's decision was likely linked to what happened to Colin Kaepernick, an American civil rights activist who was also a football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

In 2016, Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem instead of standing at the start of NFL games in protest of police brutality, racial inequality, and oppression in the United States.

His protest received mixed reactions, and notably, then-President Donald Trump called for NFL team owners to "fire" players who protest during the national anthem.

After the 2016 season, Kaepernick remained unsigned to a team and became a free agent.

In November 2017, he filed a grievance against the NFL and its owners, in which he accused them of colluding to keep him out of the league.

In February 2019, Kaepernick reached a confidential settlement with the NFL and withdrew his grievance.

Ahead of the 2019 half-time show, however, over 117,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking Maroon 5 to back out of the show to support Kaepernick and the #TakeAKnee movement.

They did not.

Maroon 5 went ahead with their performance, but they did opt to donate $US500,000 (approx. $721,000) alongside the NFL and Interscope Records to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America ahead of their half-time show.

Travis Scott also joined Maroon 5 for the performance, and revealed he only agreed to sign on for the half-time show if the NFL would make a joint donation with him to a charitable cause.

As a result, the Sicko Mode rapper made a $US500,000 contribution to Dream Corps with the NFL. Dream Corps is a non-profit organisation that champions social justice.

An expensive bird (2012)

Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj and Cee Lo Green took to the stage in 2016, and it was all fun and games until... rapper M.I.A. chucked up the middle finger while dancing.

As a result, the NFL sued her for US$16.6 million (approx. $24 million) and eventually, the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

The Federal Communications Commission, however, did not seek any fines.

When news of the suit broke, M.I.A. famously pleaded for help from Madonna.

"[Madonna] ummm .... can I borrow 16 million?" she tweeted at the time.

Nipplegate (2004)

Thanks to an on-stage accident that saw Janet Jackson but not Justin Timberlake blacklisted from the industry for years, the Super Bowl has become somewhat synonymous with scandal.

In 2004, during the televised half-time show, Timberlake was performing Rock Your Body when at the end of the track, as he sang, "I bet I'll have you naked by the end of this song", he went to remove Jackson's corset and accidentally exposed her right breast to the world.

Both issued apologies for the "wardrobe malfunction", and CBS, the network that broadcast the Super Bowl that year, was charged a $US550,000 (approx. $1,245,939 today) indecency fine for the incident.

It wasn't until 18 years later, however, that Jackson broke her silence on the matter.

"Honestly, this whole thing was blown way out of proportion," the 56-year-old Rhythm Nation hitmaker said in the second part of her Janet Jackson. documentary on Lifetime in 2022.

"And, of course, it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that's gotta stop.

"Justin and I are very good friends and we will always be very good friends."

Jackson also revealed she had spoken with the SexyBack singer only a few days prior to the interview, and said they had both "moved on and it's time for everyone to do the same."

Prior to this, the singer avoided addressing the scandal publicly altogether.

In the documentary, however, Jackson also recalled telling Timberlake to stay silent, saying to him, "I don't want any drama for you. They're aiming this at me. If I was you I wouldn't say anything."

The "wardrobe malfunction" – seen by more than 150 million viewers – happened at the end of the performance, and both singers reacted with surprise before the broadcast was cut to commercial.

In the days following, however, rumours flew that it was a deliberate act – and a partial costume reveal had been planned, but not in the way it panned out.

Timberlake took full responsibility and has since apologised to Jackson for the incident, and Jackson said he offered to include her in his 2018 Super Bowl performance, which she declined as she didn't want to relive the ordeal.

Jackson's brother Tito insisted in the documentary that the malfunction was not premeditated, and her brother Rebbie recalled her crying as soon as she came off stage.

After the 2004 Super Bowl, Jackson was disinvited from the Grammys, though Timberlake was scheduled to perform and nominated five times.

Jackson's partner at the time, Jermaine Dupri, resigned from his position on the board of the Grammys in protest.

'Not cool' attempt at a posthumous hologram (2018)

Fourteen years after making headlines for his half-time show act, Timberlake was at it once again – this time, however, due to a "not cool" move including Prince, who died in 2016.

The Say Something singer was slammed before his 2018 half-time show performance, which was held in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis.

Timberlake had attempted to bring the late great onstage via a hologram as a way to honour him, but Prince's one-time fiancée was not happy with the move.

Musician Sheila E., Prince's longtime collaborator and friend who was engaged to the Purple Rain singer from 1987 to 1989, took to Twitter ahead of Timberlake's performance when the hologram was a rumour.

"Prince told me don't ever let anyone do a hologram of me. Not cool if this happens!" she wrote ahead of Timberlake's performance.

In the end, Timberlake nixed the hologram, and sang Prince's hit I Would Die 4 U in tribute, as footage of Prince played behind him on a screen and the arena lit up in purple light.

Beyoncé steals the show (2016)

Bruno Mars once again graced the grass at the Super Bowl half-time show in 2016, though Coldplay was the headlining act.

Unsurprisingly, however, Beyoncé's brief appearance completely stole both acts' show, performing a Black Panther-invoking rendition of her smash-hit Formation.

Chris Martin did his level best, but Queen B's politically-charged guest appearance amid the Kaepernick controversy was all anyone could talk about following the game.

It also led to criticism from law enforcement groups and extreme right-wingers, and a tongue-in-cheek skit on Saturday Night Live.

New Kids on the Boring (1991)

This controversy is positively tepid compared to the rest, but that's actually wherein the scandal lies.

It was the early days of the Super Bowl's now time-honoured tradition, and New Kids on the Block took the stage at the 1991 sporting event.

Their performance, however, was full of slow songs and a cover of It's a Small World (After All), which, according to fans and critics, completely drained the stadium of its energy.

In fact, ABC News deemed it so boring they opted to broadcast a news report on the Gulf War instead of airing New Kids on the Block's entire show live, and instead broadcast it in-full after the game.

Homebrand blue suede shoes (1989)

Elvis Presley died in 1977, but, thankfully for NFL fans in 1989, so lived Elvis Presto.

The half-time show back then was not what it is today, with the NFL hiring the Elvis impersonator to entertain the stadium, and all sports-lovers watching from home.

Bit of a departure from the likes of Lady Gaga, isn't it?

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