The Super Bowl halftime show has found itself embroiled in another controversy that could end up rivaling surrounding Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction two years ago. Several anti-child-pornography groups have demanded that The Who be barred from headlining the halftime show because of the 2003 admission by lead guitarist Pete Townshend that he had downloaded sex photos of children onto his computer. Although insisting that he was researching child pornography, he nevertheless was placed on a sex offenders registry for five years. Kevin Gillick, president of Protect our Children, which works to bring awareness of child abuse, told Britain's Guardian newspaper "People tune in from all over the world and they are going to get a British sex offender on their screen. Townshend taking the stage at the Super Bowl is offensive to victims. We are incensed." Evin Daly, founder and CEO of Child AbuseWatch, said, "The Super Bowl is a family-oriented show. ... When Janet Jackson flashed a boob people went crazy ... so they're going to go ape about this." NFL Executive Vice President Joe Brown responded in a letter that no criminal charges were ever filed against Townshend.

24/12/2009