Adam Levine (Respectfully) Calls Out His Super Bowl Halftime Show Critics

Reactions to Maroon 5‘s Super Bowl LIII halftime show have been mixed, to say the least, but that isn’t going to bring down their frontman. Adam Levine took to Instagram on Sunday and made sure to mention critics in a post reflecting on Maroon 5’s performance and his feelings about it. Rather than clap back at the more negative comments and memes, he simply thanked his critics for their feedback on the show.

“When we accepted the responsibility to perform at the SBHTS, I took out my pen and just wrote,” Levine captioned his photo slideshow, which shows lanterns that spelled out ‘One Love’ above the stadium during Sunday’s halftime show. He continued, “Some of the words that came to me in that moment eventually made their way onto the incredible lanterns that flew high and low tonight.”

Then, Levine took the time to say thanks for the opportunity to perform on one of the world’s biggest and most notorious stages: “We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage. We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us to do better. One Love.”

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A post shared by Adam Levine (@adamlevine)

Levine also revealed the list of words that were written on those lanterns, including “forgive,” “share,” “endure,” “enlighten,” “sweat,” “elevate,” “dream,” “educate” and more.

For Maroon 5’s halftime show set, the band played a medley of hits, including “Harder to Breathe,” “Girls Like You,” “Sugar,” “She Will Be Loved” and “Moves Like Jagger.” They also featured special guests Travis Scott, Big Boi, a gospel choir and a drum line as well as a special cameo by SpongeBob SquarePants, whose creator, Stephen Hillenburg, died in November. Despite fans being vocal on social media about wanting the band to play “Sweet Victory” in his honor, after SpongeBob and his pals sang the song in a very memorable episode, the song didn’t make the cut.

Despite Levine’s many outfit changes getting memed and viewers filing their complaints on social media, many of his fans left supportive comments on his Instagram post, including one follower, who wrote in part, “There is so much pressure put on you if you are performing at the SBHTS so he tried his best and that’s enough. How can you blame someone for trying [something] that difficult? Pls just stop it.”