Robyn Rihanna Fenty, best known as just Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman.
After debuting in 2005, her career took off fairly quickly. With sales of over 250 million records worldwide, Rihanna is one of the top best-selling female music artist of all time. And by receiving more than many accolades, Rihanna has cemented her name as one of the most influential people in the music industry.
Among other reasons, this is why she was told to fill the half time during Super Bowl LVII, which was held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rihanna wowed her fans and beyond with her half time show, that her performance garnered a staggering average of 188.7 million viewers, whilst the Super Bowl itself had around 113 million viewership.
But Rihanna's show was widely viewed not only because it was spectacular, simply because her performance was also met with huge criticisms and backlash.
Up and foremost, the reasons are mainly based on the fact that the show was watched by a lot of people.
The annual Super Bowl remains one of the most highly anticipated events by sports enthusiasts in the U.S.. And its halftime show is often the most-watched musical event.
And for this particular reason, a lot of people are seeing Rihanna's performance through different perspectives, which means that there are too many opinions that are being shared on the web.
For starters, Rihanna performed for 13 minutes at the Super Bowl, singing and dancing while suspended in mid-air. This moment marked not only the first time she returned to work since having her first baby, but also the time she revealed her second pregnancy.
The singer arrived on stage, descending from above, cradling her stomach in a red Loewe jumpsuit and matching leather corset.
While many felt happy for her, many others didn't.
Those people seemed to dislike the idea of seeing a pregnant world-class celebrity performing on one of the most-watched stages in the world, while suspended high above with her unborn child.
And also because she was pregnant, some viewers and critics argued that Rihanna wasn't satisfactorily energetic.
Super Bowl performances in the past have been full of energy. But here, Rihanna failed to deliver that expectation.
On social media, users described her performance as "lazy" and "half-baked."
But again, Rihanna being Rihanna, she has never been the that heavily-choreographed dancer. Her songs and her nonchalance approach to stardom have been integral to her public persona and appeal.
Viewers however, expected more from Rihanna, who is a woman.
The standards are very different for men.
No one has never really commented on Chris Martin and Coldplay performance, not berated The Weeknd in 2021. Not many people showed their hatred when Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg barely moved during their 2022 show.
The standards are higher for women in the same position, and because of that, viewers expected more from Rihanna.
Her disregard for the expectations placed upon her as a woman performing at the Super Bowl is exactly the sort of thing that would upset those insecure, fragile detractors.
While Rihanna indeed delivered a show that felt authentic to who she is, she showed the world that viewers only expected more of her that she couldn't deliver.
After that, there are also criticisms of disgust.
Most notably, this sparked when the Lift Me Up singer grabbed her crotch and then smelled her hand.
Read: The Viral Shakira And Jennifer Lopez Super Bowl Halftime Show, 'The Worst Idea In The World
Before the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, the pop icon performed some of her greatest hits, kicking off her show with Bitch Better Have My Money, followed by Work, Diamonds, and more.
But as she was singing
Singers doing the crotch-grab move isn't new.
In the past, singers like Michael Jackson, Eminem, Madonna, and lots more, have done this move. While the move is done with and without criticisms, none really took off like Rihanna's.
Self crotch-grabbing move is usually a way for someone to assert his manhood (or her womanhood), without having to verbalize it.
And by grabbing their own private parts on stage during live performances, often create that delight to the performers themselves, who think that can take in the overall taboo nature of what’s being done, because the singer knows they’re going to ruffle some conservatives.
It can also be a way for the singer to mix his/her dedication to the beat of the music, and his/her desire to boast about their dominance over their peers.
And indeed, Rihanna’s move during her Super Bowl half time performance had social media watchdogs going wild.
But for her, some questioned whether she done the move also because she was pregnant.
With millions of viewers tuned into Rihanna's Super Bowl LVII halftime show, not everyone enjoyed it. In fact, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is said to have obtained 103 complaints about the Super Bowl broadcast and reported that nearly all of them were about Rihanna's performance.
The complaints compared Rihanna's show to pornography with "overtly sexual dancing" and movements that "were patently offensive and completely inappropriate for children."
Then, there is the fact that Rihanna's half time performance at the Super Bowl has been blamed for the poor state of the field at State Farm Stadium.
The quality of the playing surface has come under fire in the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs' win over the Philadelphia Eagles, with Aussie star Jordan Mailata describing it as "terrible."
The NFL reportedly spend 11 months preparing the playing surface for the showpiece event, and spent an eye-watering $800 million on it.
But still, the preparation fell spectacularly, when players were seen slipping and sliding.