Christian evangelist Franklin Graham has slammed the NFL and Pepsi for the Super Bowl LIV halftime show, which he said was promoting "sexual exploitation."
The performance by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira was sending the wrong message to young girls, Graham stated in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.
"I don’t expect the world to act like the church, but our country has had a sense of moral decency on prime time television in order to protect children," he wrote. "We see that disappearing before our eyes."
Graham said that "millions of children" were watching the show, which at one point had a scantily clad Lopez whirl through a pole dance.
"This exhibition was Pepsi showing young girls that sexual exploitation of women is okay," Graham continued. "With the exploitation of women on the rise worldwide, instead of lowering the standard, we as a society should be raising it. I’m disappointed in Pepsi and the NFL."
The post garnered over 117,000 shares and thousands of comments, many of which agreed with Graham.
"The NFL should be ashamed to have allowed that strip club show when they knew many young kids would be watching. NFL better set 'family' standards and preview acts starting immediately," one Facebook user wrote.
"Someone posted that they were glad to see these two beautiful women (moms) celebrating their culture. So, part of their culture is bending over with their scantily clad [private parts aimed at] the audience?" said another follower.
The Parents Television Council also has criticized the Super Bowl halftime show.
In a statement, Melissa Henson, program director for the PTC, said it was "disappointing" that millions of NFL fans and families were subjected to the "sexually-charged" half time show.
"It's too bad the little girls on stage during the halftime show were watching the pole dancing instead of the Olay STEM commercials," Henson said, according to CBN News. "It's unfortunate that such hyper-sexualized content was given a main stage at this event."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.