{"id":10163,"date":"2026-07-19T03:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=10163"},"modified":"2026-07-19T03:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:02:15","slug":"the-cures-robert-smith-slams-world-cup-halftime-show-just-f-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=10163","title":{"rendered":"The Cure&#8217;s Robert Smith Slams World Cup Halftime Show: &#8216;Just F&#8212; Off&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tFollowing the news that the FIFA <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/world-cup\/\" id=\"auto-tag_world-cup\" data-tag=\"world-cup\">World Cup<\/a> final will feature its first halftime show in history, <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/the-cure\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-cure\" data-tag=\"the-cure\">The Cure<\/a>\u2018s <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/robert-smith\/\" id=\"auto-tag_robert-smith\" data-tag=\"robert-smith\">Robert Smith<\/a> took to social media to slam the announcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/explore\/tags\/breadandcircuses\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#Breadandcircuses<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/explore\/tags\/mugwank\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#MUGWANK<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/explore\/tags\/pleasejustfuckoff\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#pleasejustfuckoff<\/a>,\u201d Smith wrote on The Cure\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Da3GKWPzl69\/\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram account<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCurated by Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin, performers will include Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS. In a statement, FIFA president Gianni Infantosser described the halftime special as a \u201cgroundbreaking spectacle\u201d that will celebrate \u201cfootball, music and our shared values, ensuring a legacy that transcends the final whistle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tA few hours after his initial post, Smith clarified in another post that he wasn\u2019t critiquing the performers. \u201cIT IS ABOUT THE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/explore\/tags\/mugwank\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#MUGWANK<\/a> I D E A OF A FOOTBALL WORLD CUP FINAL HALF TIME SHOW\u2026 IF YOU NOW UNDERSTAND MY \u2018AAAAAAAGH!\u2019 A BIT BETTER, BUT STILL DON\u2019T AGREE, PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RED CAP, YOUR \u2018I\u00a0\ud83d\udda4\u00a0JANNY + DONNY + $$$\u2019 TSHIRT AND\u2026 KNOCK YOURSELF OUT? ONWARDS,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Da3x-T1Izbg\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tReps for FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAnother area of contention online has been the actual length of the halftime show; sources <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/c1wyw9wx19yo\" target=\"_blank\">told BBC News<\/a> that the halftime show may last up to 25 minutes, but tournament regulations state that players\u2019 breaks should not go over 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAs <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/world-cup-final-halftime-ny-philharmonic-venezuela-orchestra-1236810279\/\"><em>Variety<\/em> exclusively reported<\/a>, the halftime show will also include performances from members of the New York Philharmonic and the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, who are set to jointly perform a tribute to Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe Cure is currently touring through Europe, most recently performing in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Smith was also featured on the duet \u201cWhat\u2019s Wrong With Me\u201d as part of Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s new album.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the news that the FIFA World Cup final will feature its first halftime show in history, The Cure\u2018s Robert Smith took to social media to slam the announcement. \u201cAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH\u2026 #Breadandcircuses #MUGWANK #pleasejustfuckoff,\u201d Smith wrote on The Cure\u2019s Instagram account. Curated by Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin, performers will include Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS. In&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-175605316-e1731288989984.jpg?crop=0px%2C37px%2C2895px%2C1628px&resize=1000%2C563","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}