On September 28th, the NFL announced this year’s performer for the Superbowl LX halftime show is Bad Bunny. Real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer who has been the center of many heated debates recently.
So Why the Drama?
For context, Bad Bunny announced that his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour” would not include any performances in mainland US out of concerns for ICE raids. The world tour is set to start in the Dominican Republic on November 21st and end in Belgium in June 2026. This comes after the artist did a successful, month-long residency concert in Puerto Rico.
This year, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has had a record high detention rate. According to statistics from NBC, the number of people being held in ICE detention through September is nearly 60,000. Along with this, arrests and raids have increased. Statistics from TRAC Reports show an overwhelming majority of people arrested and/or detained are Latino. As a Puerto Rican artist who sings/raps in Spanish, Bad Bunny’s fanbase is majority Latino, and hence his concerts could potentially become a hotspot for ICE raids.
Reactions
Despite not hosting concerts in the mainland United States, Bad Bunny will headline the halftime show for the Superbowl LX in February, and the public has had a wild reaction to this announcement. On Instagram, many users commented negatively under the NFL’s post announcing Bad Bunny as the Superbowl LX performer. Some have even called him a hypocrite for performing at the Superbowl in California despite purposefully not including any stops in the US on his world tour. Even prominent US politicians have publicly disapproved of the singer. Among the several of these politicians are Donald Trump, who described the NFL’s choice as “absolutely ridiculous”, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem, who threatened the presence of ICE agents at the game.
Yet amid all this backlash, numerous celebrities have voiced their support for Bad Bunny’s performance. The most prominent of these supports has been Jennifer Lopez who co-headlined the 2020 halftime show along with Shakira, where Bad Bunny made a guest appearance. She said she does not understand why there is fallout from this and even called the singer “one of the top artists in the world right now”.
In my opinion, the backlash Bad Bunny and the NFL are receiving for this decision is unnecessary. Since this is not an actual concert, it makes sense why Bad Bunny and his team would choose to perform the halftime show. The performance is not the main event, so ICE raids should not be as big a concern as his standalone concerts would be. The hypocrisy claims are just grasping at straws. Others who object to the show being in Spanish forget that good entertainment is good entertainment whether or not some people cannot understand the lyrics. Like JLo said, he is one of the most popular singers in the world right now, and I personally can not wait to see the performance.
