In late September 2025, the NFL announced Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, better known as “Bad Bunny,” as the headliner for the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. His selection promises an inclusive, dance-filled number, if a recently released trailer that included Puerto Rican iconography and intergenerational dancers is any indication. The decision also marked the first time in the Super Bowl’s 60 years that an artist who performs exclusively in a language other than English would headline.
Aside from Bad Bunny, only four Latin artists have starred in the annual event: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and Gloria Estefan, who are primarily known for their English-language hits, and Christina Aguilera, who performed exclusively in English at the show.
The news has elated fans — and Latin Americans who were excited to see a Latino artist headlining an event often considered the epitome of American culture. Andrea Samayoa, a Bad Bunny fan and IT project manager at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. who’s originally from Honduras, said, “I’m sure he’s going to portray Latino culture at its best on one of the biggest world stages, and it will show where Latinos can come together, what brings us together and how happy we are when one has success.”
Samayoa is also among the 48 percent of Americans who approve of Bad Bunny headlining, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published a month after he was selected. Twenty-nine percent disapproved, with opinions largely divided along age and political lines: While 74 percent of Democrats approved, 63 percent of Republicans did not.
The artist’s liberal politics, cultural identity and visual style have drawn conservative ire and put him at the center of a cultural commotion as America’s favorite day in football approaches. Some conservatives are going after the artist, criticizing him on social media, dismissing his skills, and calling him insufficiently American to represent the NFL.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he would not attend this year’s Super Bowl despite attending last year’s game, citing that the event was “just too far away” and condemning Bad Bunny, as well as Green Day, who are performing during the event’s opening ceremony and have also been critical of Trump in the past. “I’m anti-them,” Trump told the New York Post. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred.”
This dissatisfaction among many conservatives has prompted an apparent counter-show — but hasn’t thrown the artist off his game.
Bad Bunny is a three-time Grammy-winning artist with seven studio albums under his belt and whose fusion of Latin trap, reggaeton, pop, and soul and colorful streetwear style has captivated international audiences and cemented his place in mainstream U.S. music. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory whose residents are American citizens — the artist got his first record label deal thanks to his 2016 song “Diles.”
Through his music, particularly his most recent album, Bad Bunny communicates his love and concern for Puerto Rico. His lyrics discuss systemic problems like gentrification, cultural erasure and political corruption, while also affectionately reflecting on his home country, depicting his native island as a lost lover. Despite his anthemic calls for community resilience and an end to what he and many scholars call U.S. imperialism, Bad Bunny claims he isn’t trying to be political or to occupy the role of an activist. He covers these sorts of topics, and politics, he told Complex, because “I’m a normal human being and I have feelings.”
Bad Bunny has criticized Trump since 2017, when the artist wore a shirt with the phrase “¿Eres Twitero o Presidente?” (“Are you a Tweeter or a President?”) at a benefit concert, deriding Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria, which critics at the time called insufficient.
But Bad Bunny’s past political statements don’t seem to be the full focus for many of his conservative critics when they have been asked to comment on the artist’s upcoming Super Bowl appearance. Instead, they’ve often responded with limited awareness and have incorrectly suggested that he’s obscure. Trump told Newsmax in October, “I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy.”
He was echoing House Speaker Mike Johnson, who went a step further, suggesting incorrectly that the artist isn’t widely listened to in America. “I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was,” the Speaker told reporters days earlier. “But it sounds like a terrible decision, in my view.” When asked why, Johnson responded with “It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience.” Instead of Bad Bunny, the Speaker suggested country singer Lee Greenwood, who is 82 years old and white.
Other opposers went even further. While criticizing Bad Bunny on her podcast, Fox News host Tomi Lahren said incorrectly, “He’s not an American artist.”
Despite calls from some critics for Bad Bunny to be replaced, the NFL has strongly defended its decision. Dallas Cowboys co-owner Charlotte Jones called the artist’s selection “awesome” on political advisor Katie Miller’s podcast. In a statement during a news conference in October, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell noted that the decision is a move to help expand the league’s audience and that the Super Bowl halftime show is no stranger to scrutiny.
Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show last year received criticism for focusing on Black culture, leading some conservative critics to label it as too vulgar or anti-white. Following the performance, the FCC received 125 complaints citing “provocative dancing,” racism, and gang affiliation.
Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance triggered mixed messages last fall from the federal government about whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would be sent to the Super Bowl, but this week, local officials in California confirmed that agents will be present at the game to conduct immigration enforcement operations.
Bad Bunny had previously announced in September that he would not tour in the U.S. for his 2025-2026 “Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour” out of concern for the safety of his concert attendees and the potential that they could be a target for ICE.
The upcoming half-time show has also triggered Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit organization founded by Charlie Kirk, to announce a counter-show. “The All-American Halftime Show” is set to air opposite Bad Bunny’s performance on a handful of channels, including OAN News, and according to the website, will emphasize “faith, family and freedom.” Event details are otherwise scarce — musical acts are listed as “to be announced.” A survey form allows website viewers to share contact information and indicate a genre of music they’d like to see featured, one of the options of which is “anything in English.”
Jesús Flores, a Honduran biologist and veterinary student, isn’t a huge fan of Bad Bunny but disagrees with the severity of the backlash the artist has faced. Flores believes the counter-halftime show is an unnecessary byproduct of U.S. political tensions. “Everybody has freedom of speech. Everybody has a right to their own opinion,” said Flores. “But I think that at any other point in the world, or any other point in time, if you had had Bad Bunny perform in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, we would still have negative voices, but they wouldn’t be heard as loud as they are being heard right now.”
Conservative scrutiny of Bad Bunny and his commitment to sing in his native language inevitably butts up against important facts: Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in U.S. homes, and Mexican viewers dominate the Super Bowl’s international audience. Plus, while Bad Bunny is headlining, he won’t be the only performer on stage — so it’s possible other artists will sing in English.
As backlash was building in October, Bad Bunny addressed it playfully when he hosted “Saturday Night Live.” Following a heavily edited stitching of news clips that gave the satirical impression that Fox News hosts were praising him, the artist said that he and his fans are excited for his performance. Switching to Spanish, Bad Bunny called it an achievement for all Latinos, emphasizing their enduring impact on the nation. He ended with a lighthearted remark in English. “If you didn’t understand what I just said,” he said, “you have four months to learn.”