Adam Levine Has Message for His Critics

Thank you, writes Maroon 5 singer
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 4, 2019 9:55 AM CST
Adam Levine Has Message for His Critics
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 takes off his shirt during the halftime show.   (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

The reviews of the Super Bowl halftime show anchored by Maroon 5 haven't exactly been stellar. "Designed to be forgotten" is the headline of a review at the Atlantic, one voicing a typical sentiment. But lead singer Adam Levine seems to be taking it in stride. "We thank our critics for always pushing us," Levine wrote on Instagram after the show. Related:

  • That dance: Levine's dance moves, especially in comparison to Travis Scott, were being roasted as "peak white dude," notes BuzzFeed, which rounds up reaction. "Adam Levine at the #SuperBowl halftime show is every white person at a wedding with at least 7 nonwhite people," reads one tweet that made the cut.
  • About Janet: When Levine ripped off his shirt, the move prompted instant memories of the Janet Jackson nipple-gate controversy from her own halftime show. Cosmopolitan rounds up sentiment, including: "I'm sorry but Adam Levine should get the same grief as Janet did for showing us his unclothed nipples; more specifically, this should prove how absurd, hypocritical, racist and sexist that puritanical hysteria over Janet's boob really was."

  • A criticism: A common view, from Maeve McDermott at USA Today: "Viewers got a white-bread performance from one of America's most generic groups, distinctive only for how uncontroversial it was, how wholly a missed opportunity it represented, and how much of Levine's truly abysmal dance moves we were all forced to watch."
  • A defense: The show "was aggressively fine, with fleeting moments of slight glee," writes Alex Abad-Santos at Vox. "As much as many people may dislike Maroon 5, it's undeniable that they're more than capable of serving up catchy pop bops. The best of these are 'Sugar' and 'Moves Like Jagger,' the two songs that ended the halftime show."
  • Missed chance? "It’s possible that the band didn’t have any chance of reversing low expectations," writes Amanda Petrusich at the New Yorker. "But I'm still surprised that Maroon 5, if not willing (or able) to take a political risk, didn't at least exhibit a bit of shrewdness about the flip way people communicate now—offering up at least one meme-worthy left shark or crotch-slide, something to delight and energize the internet set."
  • That shirt: Before he pulled it off, lots of people were comparing Levine's shirt to patterns on their pillows and furniture, reports Time. Behold one such comparison, complete with photos.
(More Maroon 5 stories.)

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