When the NFL announced on September 30, 2025, that Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny would headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, California, the reaction was immediate, fierce, and deeply divided. The Grammy-winning rapper, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most streamed artists on the planet, with a global fanbase that rivals the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. But his selection for America’s biggest televised sporting event has ignited a cultural and political firestorm—one that goes far beyond music.
According to News24, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s Senior Director for Counter Terrorism, lashed out after the announcement. Gorka took to X (formerly Twitter) to question the NFL’s judgment, asking, “Is the @NFL incapable of reading the room?” His post accompanied a conservative podcaster’s complaint that Bad Bunny is “a rapper with a catalogue of vulgar lyrics in Spanish and English”—including one aimed at Trump himself.
Other prominent right-wing voices quickly piled on. Former racing driver and commentator Danica Patrick declared, “No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest-rated television events of the year.” Sage Steele, a former ESPN host who recently appeared at a White House briefing, went so far as to call Bad Bunny “DEMONIC,” adding, “NFL...I just don’t get it.” The artist’s decision to skip the United States during his upcoming world tour—citing fears of immigration raids at his concerts—had already stoked right-wing ire. Now, with the Super Bowl stage awaiting him, the controversy has only intensified.
Why all this uproar? For starters, Bad Bunny is unapologetically political. As POLITICO reports, his music and public statements have consistently championed Latino culture, LGBTQ+ rights, and Puerto Rican identity. His new album, for instance, features the lyric: “They killed people here for carrying our flag — that’s why now I carry it wherever I want,” a nod to the struggles and pride of his homeland. And he’s no stranger to activism—last year, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a billboard campaign encouraging Puerto Ricans to oust the pro-statehood party, though that effort ultimately fell short. The current governor, Jenniffer González-Colón, is a Trump ally and a supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny’s political engagement goes beyond island politics. He’s openly criticized the financial oversight board—known as La Junta—imposed on Puerto Rico after its historic bankruptcy, a board that President Trump gutted by firing six of its seven members this summer. He has also used his platform to highlight issues like recurring power outages and the gentrification that’s pricing native Puerto Ricans out of their neighborhoods. His music videos often spotlight these social challenges, blending art and activism in a way that resonates with millions.
But perhaps nothing has riled Trump supporters more than Bad Bunny’s stance on immigration and U.S. enforcement policies. In June 2025, he posted video footage on social media of an ICE raid on his home island. He later explained his decision to avoid mainland U.S. dates on his world tour, telling Apple Music, “There was the issue of — like, f**king ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.” In the music video for his song “NUEVAYoL,” he even interrupts the track with an imitation of Trump’s voice, declaring, “I made a mistake, I want to apologize to the immigrants of America. I want to say that this country is nothing without the immigrants.”
Given this backdrop, the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny is more than a musical decision—it’s a cultural flashpoint. The Super Bowl halftime show has always been a showcase for the biggest names in entertainment, from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Kendrick Lamar, who headlined in 2025 and used his performance to critique mass incarceration and racism. Eminem, during the 2022 halftime show, knelt for nearly a minute in what many saw as a nod to Colin Kaepernick’s protests against racial injustice. The NFL’s move to spotlight Bad Bunny—an artist who sings mainly in Spanish and has made political activism a central part of his brand—signals a willingness to embrace a broader, more international audience, even at the risk of alienating some viewers.
“This performance is for my people, my culture, and our history,” Bad Bunny said in a statement released by the NFL. In a subsequent video, he emphasized, “I’m always doing everything with purpose, and of course, everywhere I go, I always represent and I always put my country, my music.” His upcoming Super Bowl appearance will be his only show in the mainland U.S. over the next year, making the event even more significant for his fans—and his critics.
Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny was born and still maintains deep ties, is a U.S. territory whose residents are American citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections. The relationship between the island and Washington has long been fraught, and President Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in 2017—when he famously tossed paper towels into a crowd—remains a sore point for many Puerto Ricans. As POLITICO notes, the territory voted overwhelmingly for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election, underscoring the political divide.
Bad Bunny’s previous Super Bowl appearance also carried political undertones. In 2020, he joined Shakira and Jennifer Lopez on stage; Lopez donned a Puerto Rican flag cape and staged a symbolic protest against the Trump administration’s child separation policy. The pattern is clear: the Super Bowl halftime show has become a platform for artists to make powerful cultural and political statements, and Bad Bunny is poised to continue that tradition.
Trump’s own relationship with the NFL and American sports is complicated. He has attended major events like UFC fights, the Daytona 500, and the U.S. Open Men’s Tennis Final, and he’s never shied away from weighing in on sports controversies. He once threatened to withhold a new stadium deal for the Washington Commanders unless the franchise reverted to its original name. Football, however, holds a unique place in the American psyche, and Trump has kept a particularly close eye on the gridiron.
For the NFL, booking Bad Bunny is both a nod to the league’s growing international ambitions and a reflection of shifting cultural dynamics in the U.S. Latino immigrants have found themselves at the center of contentious policy debates, and the league’s decision to feature a Spanish-speaking, politically-engaged artist is bound to spark conversation—if not outright confrontation. MAGA influencers and supporters have already branded Bad Bunny a “Trump hater” and “anti-ICE activist,” while others lament the lack of English-language songs at the event.
Yet, the NFL seems undeterred. The league has a long history of courting controversy and reinventing its marquee event to reflect changing times. Whether Bad Bunny’s performance will be remembered as a watershed moment for Latino representation or as a lightning rod for political backlash remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: when the lights go up in Santa Clara next February, all eyes will be on Bad Bunny—and the conversation will extend far beyond the music.
