Super Bowl Called Out by Oscar Winner, Fans Over Ignoring ASL Performers

The 'CODA' actress said she was "absolutely SHOCKED" at the lack of screentime for the Super Bowl's ASL performers.

By Allison Schonter

Marlee Matlin is expressing her shock and disappointment after coverage of the Super Bowl LVII didn't feature the American Sign Language (ASL) performers. As the Kansas City Chiefs took on the San Francisco 49ers during the Big Game Sunday, the Chiefs winning the Lombardi Trophy with a final score of 25-22, the Oscar-winning actress, who is deaf, took to social media to her frustration.

"I am absolutely SHOCKED at CBS for introducing the Deaf performers at today's pregame [Super Bowl] and then not showing even one second (or more) of their performance... as has been tradition for the last 30 years," Matlin – who previously performed the national anthem in ASL at the 1993 Super Bowl alongside Garth Brooks and who ahead of Sunday's game had posted on X a link to a CBS Sports page where the ASL performers would be featured.

The Oscar-winning actress was referring to the three pre-game performances by Post Malone ("America the Beautiful"), Reba McEntire (the national anthem), and Andra Day ("Lift Every Voice and Sing"). The pregame performances also featured American Sign Language performances, with Matlin's CODA costar Daniel Durant performing the national anthem, Anjel Piñero performing "America the Beautiful," and Shaheem Sanchez performing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," as well as Usher's halftime show. Only a brief snippet of Sanchez's performance was shown during the live broadcast, while both Piñero's and Durant's performances were not shown.

Matlin was not the only person to call out the lack of coverage of the ASL performers. On X, one person noted that while there have been "32 national anthem performances since 1992, most ASL performers appeared on screen for 8% or less of the broadcasted song." That person added, "We shouldn't have to go to an online source to view it regardless if it's DPAN, CBS, or whoever. They all preach equality, but same conversation yr after yr." Another person thanked Matlin "for pointing this out. As a non-deaf person I didn't give it a second thought. It would have been so easy to include the deaf performers and have them on part of the screen."

Although CBS did not showcase the ASL performances during its live broadcast, the network did have a dedicated landing page on its website that featured a livestream of its ASL performers. The network also posted about the landing page via its NFL on CBS X account. A source told The Hollywood Reporter that the strategy "is in line with pregame coverage in years past," with rights to the Super Bowl broadcast rotating among Fox, NBC, and CBS every three years.

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