Super Bowl halftime's creative directors won't say if their show was political, but defend against accusations it was obscene

BuzzFeed News

Choreographers and married couple Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo were behind last night's Jennifer Lopez halftime show. While they wouldn't comment on if they tried to be political, Tabitha Dumo said: "I don’t think we were trying to be heavy-handed with anything. I think we were just celebrating all that is beautiful about this country — Puerto Rico being part of this country.” They did, however, refer to the props as "cages." “I think it’s symbolic to... You can put yourself in your own cage metaphorically as well if you don’t believe that you can be bigger or greater than something and if someone doesn’t allow you to believe that about yourself,” said Tabitha Dumo, referencing J.Lo’s 2018 single “Limitless.” Tabitha Dumo also fired back at critics accusing J.Lo's performance of being obscene, especially with the use of what looked like a stripper pole. The couple said they were trying to highlight the athleticism and acrobatic skills involved in such dancing. “There was no grinding,” she said. “Break the stereotype!” Napolean Dumo added: “It looks nothing like a stripper. It looks more like an acrobat,” insisting that it showed “the strength of women and women empowerment.”