CBS Chief George Cheeks Says Network Will Review Closed Captioning for Live Events After Grammys Bad Bunny Controversy

CBS is reviewing its closed captioning process for all live entertainment events, following criticism over the network’s Grammys telecast and its initial lack of Spanish captioning. That’s according to CBS president/CEO George Cheeks, who has responded to a letter from U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) that had addressed the controversy.

During last Sunday’s initial live broadcast of the Grammys, captions only read, “[SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH]” and “[SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH]” during Bad Bunny’s mashup performance of “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa.” Later, when Bad Bunny accepted the Grammy for Música Urbana album, his acceptance speech was partially in Spanish — and once again, the captions only said “[SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH]”.

In his letter to Rep. Garcia, Cheeks said he took “full responsibility” for the lack of Spanish closed captions. (The Grammys were later re-broadcast on the West Coast, and have since been available on demand on Paramount+ — and in both cases, the captions were corrected to include Spanish.)

“Regrettably, errors were made with respect to the closed captioning of his performance and subsequent acceptance speech,” Cheeks wrote in his letter. “We worked with a closed captioning vendor that did not execute at a standard to which we should rightfully be held. Regardless, we should have monitored the situation more closely. A bilingual (English and Spanish-language) real-time live captioner should have been utilized and the words used on the screen were insensitive to many.”

Moving forward, Cheeks added, “our teams are now re-examining the closed captioning process for all live entertainment events on the network to ensure we properly caption Spanish-language content. We will keep you updated regarding our efforts on this matter.” 

Cheeks was responding to a letter Rep. Garcia, a Peruvian immigrant representing California’s 42nd congressional district, sent on Wednesday. While Garcia acknowledged in the letter that CBS had since added captions to replays of the Grammys, he maintained that Cheeks must “take serious measures to address the failures which made this mistake possible.”

“CBS’s failure to properly close caption both his performance and his acceptance speech called attention to an incredibly disappointing failure on part of a network that caters to the millions of Spanish speakers that we have here in the U.S.,” Garcia wrote in a follow-up email to Variety. “If Bad Bunny, the first-ever Spanish-language Album of the Year nominee, can’t have his words made accessible to the American people, we have an issue.”

Here is Cheeks’ letter to Rep. Garcia:

Dear Representative Garcia: 

Thank you for your letter and for sharing your feedback about the Grammy Awards on CBS. 

The Grammys is our biggest live entertainment event of the year and an evening that showcases a wide range of diverse artists and voices. We were proud to open the broadcast with an electric Spanish-language performance by Grammy-winning artist Bad Bunny to a national and worldwide audience. 

Regrettably, errors were made with respect to the closed captioning of his performance and subsequent acceptance speech. We worked with a closed captioning vendor that did not execute at a standard to which we should rightfully be held. Regardless, we should have monitored the situation more closely. A bilingual (English and Spanish-language) real-time live captioner should have been utilized and the words used on the screen were insensitive to many. I take full responsibility for what happened. 

As you acknowledged in your letter, our closed captioning team worked quickly to address the matter that night, updated the captioning for the West Coast encore, and later for on-demand playback on our streaming platform. Our teams are now re-examining the closed captioning process for all live entertainment events on the Network to ensure we properly caption Spanish-language content. We will keep you updated regarding our efforts on this matter. 

Please be assured that diversity in our programming and an inclusive experience for our audiences will continue to be top priorities for CBS. 

Sincerely, 

George Cheeks

President & CEO 

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