Skip to main content
Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
marlee matlin
Marlee Matlin highlighted a significant gap in CBS’ Super Bowl coverage on Sunday night (Feb. 11). Following the initial pregame performances ahead of kickoff, she took to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) to air her grievances after the three Deaf performers were barely featured on-screen during Andra Day, Post Malone, and Reba McEntire‘s performances, per Variety.
“I am absolutely SHOCKED at @CBS for introducing the Deaf performers at today’s pregame #SuperBowl and then not showing even one second (or more) of their performance… as has been tradition for the last 30 years,” she wrote. “WHY!?”
Anjel Piñero signed Malone’s “America The Beautiful,” Daniel Durant signed McEntire’s National Anthem and Shaheem Sanchez signed Day’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” as well as Usher‘s Halftime Show performance. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the only performer to receive a brief moment of screen time during the main broadcast was Sanchez while signing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Decider reached out to CBS Sports for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication.
Nonetheless, CBS did promote a separate site through which viewers could access an American Sign Language (ASL) broadcast of the aforementioned performances. However, Matlin’s frustrations were still echoed in the comments section of her post, as many “noticed” the lack of air time showcasing Piñero, Durant, and Sanchez’s work, and were also “very disappointed.”
While some were “not shocked” by the lapse in coverage, many also urged CBS and their counterparts to “do better” going forward.
As a Deaf actress herself who performed the ASL version of Garth Brooks‘ National Anthem at the 1993 Super Bowl, Matlin has long been an advocate for the Deaf community. In a 2021 interview with People, the CODA star explained how she fought for accurate representation in the Oscar award-winning film.
“I said I would walk off if they hired a hearing actor to play the deaf father,” she shared. “That’s not something that I take for granted any longer. I was actually surprised that they listened.”
