Bad Bunny’s predominantly Spanish-language halftime performance at the Super Bowl sparked immediate backlash, igniting a debate over whether the NFL’s biggest stage reflects its American football audience or a platform for political protest.
Sunday’s Super Bowl LX halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara quickly shifted the focus from football to a critique of America. Headlined by Puerto Rican pop star Bad Bunny, the performance was one of the most polarizing in recent memory, drawing fierce criticism from conservative figures and prompting a counterprogramming event by conservative activists.
In one of the first Super Bowl halftime sets to feature mostly Spanish-language music, Bad Bunny and his supporting cast, including Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, delivered a performance themed around Puerto Rican culture with subtle left-wing themes. Described as an “Act of Resistance,” the performance opened with imagery of Puerto Rico before shifting to Levi’s Stadium, where dancers dressed as jíbaro farmworkers filled the tallgrass field as Bad Bunny appeared holding a football in a custom jersey bearing his mother’s surname.
At one point in the performance, the camera pans to a small TV playing Bunny’s acceptance speech at the Grammys, where he proclaims, “ICE Out.” Bunny then hands his award to a Puerto Rican child, whom many viewers allege is meant to represent the 5-year-old boy who was “detained” by ICE.
Fans of the performance, such as Katy Perry, said, “You got this [Bad Bunny], remind the world what the real American dream looks like.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared the day “Bad Bunny Day” in California ahead of the Super Bowl performance. “He is nearly as ‘hot’ as me,” Newsom wrote in a press statement.
President Donald Trump blasted the performance as “one of the worst, EVER!” calling it “an affront to the Greatness of America” and adding that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying.” Other critics, like Jake Paul, remarked, “A fake American citizen performing who publicly hates America. I cannot support that.” Paul told his audience, “Let’s rally together and show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences.”
The nonprofit Turning Point USA staged its own “All-American Halftime Show” in parallel to the controversial halftime performance. Headlined by Kid Rock and streamed to an audience of 5 million live views on YouTube, the alternative performance conveyed themes of American patriotism and faith, appealing to blue-collar Americans. TPUSA also dedicated the performance to the late Charlie Kirk. “This one’s for you, Charlie!” declared TPUSA host Jack Posobiec at the start of the stream.
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Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
