When the NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music announced that Bad Bunny would be performing at halftime at the Super Bowl in 2026, an uproar ensued almost immediately. On the one hand, there was cheering and excitement: his fans recognized the historic significance of the performance, which will go down in history as the first Super Bowl halftime show entirely in Spanish. Plus, the announcement came at the end of another successful year for Bad Bunny – following a triumphant 31-day residency in Puerto Rico, a record-breaking Amazon stream of the concert and the blockbuster success of his chart-topping album Debí Tirar Más Photos.
On the other hand, there was just as much excitement, but these discussions were almost hysterical – and far uglier. Conservatives sharply criticized the NFL’s decision, taking issue with just about every aspect of Latin music’s most famous star. His music? Inaudible. His politics? Unacceptable. His lyrics in Spanish? Un-American.
Bad Bunny is so popular on the global music scene precisely because he is authentically himself, opts for fashion and aesthetics that subvert gender norms, and refuses to make palatable, commercial pop music in English. He is not afraid to speak his mind in his songs and often speaks about the difficulties in Puerto Rico, such as gentrification, economic problems and the long-term effects of colonization. And while he’s not a polemical artist who goes on lengthy tirades against the government, he has championed issues close to his heart, such as the rights of immigrants in the face of the government’s cruel deportation policies.
In an interview with iD magazine, he explained that one of the reasons he decided against touring in the US was because he didn’t want the ICE immigration authorities to terrorize his predominantly Latin American fans outside of his concerts.
Donald Trump doesn’t know Bad Bunny, but finds everything ridiculous
That makes him a target for conservatives. Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly called for a boycott of the NFL, insisting that Bad Bunny “hates America, hates President Trump, hates ICE, hates the English language! He’s just a terrible human being.” Even the highest levels of government have gotten involved. Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, threatened that immigration agents would be present “everywhere” at the event. Trump later took to Newsmax to criticize the musician, saying: “I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they do this, it’s crazy, and then they blame it on a promoter that they hired to provide entertainment. I think that’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Turning Point USA, the conservative, youth-oriented group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, decided to organize a “counterprogram” during Bad Bunny’s performance, which it calls “The All-American Halftime Show,” to celebrate “faith, family and freedom.” Through a contact form on the website, followers can request music and artists, including worship music, country and “anything in English.” MAGA supporters wrote pointless petitions to replace his appearance and even called for his expulsion — even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and he is an American citizen.
As annoying and exaggerated as this reaction may be, it is part of an unfortunate, narrow-minded tradition of marginalizing and discriminating against Latin American artists in the United States, even though these musicians are often American and represent a large portion of the population. These moments are callous and xenophobic, but they go back decades.
For example, Puerto Rican artist José Feliciano played “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1968 World Series – albeit in a stripped-down, Latin-influenced style on his acoustic guitar. The performance became a lightning rod; many people perceived him as a kind of counterculture protestor and were confused by Feliciano’s long hair and sunglasses (which he wore because he was born blind). They angrily complained to radio stations and sent him hate mail, some even calling for his expulsion – even though Feliciano, like Bad Bunny, was born in Puerto Rico and is a U.S. citizen. History and ignorance repeat themselves, and in this case it had serious consequences for Feliciano’s career for a few years.
“To be honest, I was a little depressed,” Feliciano later said. “And then they stopped playing me. Like I had the plague or something.” Years later, in 2018, he reflected on the incident and shared that his interpretation was actually his way of honoring his country from the bottom of his heart. “When I sang the anthem, I did so with the understanding in my heart and mind that I did it because I am a patriot,” Feliciano said. “I wanted to be a grateful patriot. I expressed my feelings for America by singing the anthem in my own way, rather than just singing it with an orchestra.” (Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Bad Bunny honored Feliciano as a pioneer and trailblazer and brought him on stage during his 2023 headlining performance.)
Ricky Martin and the Grammy controversy
Other examples of the inclusion of Latin artists on mainstream stages have generated unnecessary controversy even decades later. Let’s take the 1999 Grammys: Back then, Ricky Martin was a rising star who had successfully built a career from a child boy band member in Menudo to a successful solo artist. He was already a well-known name in the Latin music scene, and his album “Vuelve” was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Latin Pop” category.
His label boss Tommy Mottola pushed for Martin to perform one of the tracks – the famous FIFA anthem “Cup of Life,” which Martin wrote for the 1998 World Cup – as the opening number for the Grammy broadcast. Despite Martin’s stage presence and star power, the awards show’s producers rejected the idea, convinced that a Latin act singing primarily in Spanish would not work for the show.
Mottola later recalled how fierce the resistance was. “There was tremendous resistance from people at the Grammys,” Mottola told Billboard. “They didn’t want to let an ‘unknown’ perform, even though we had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. We had enormous influence at the time, with almost all the major superstars signed to our label. We made our ‘opinion and influence’ clear and said, ‘Ricky has to perform at the Grammys!’ No was not an option.”
Mottola had to fight for this moment to make it happen – and standing ovations and thousands of records sold ultimately proved that the Grammys’ short-sighted prejudices were completely unfounded. Today, that seems even more ridiculous, as Latin music continues to generate more than $1 billion in sales. Bad Bunny later performed at the same venue at the Grammy Awards – and while he apparently faced no opposition from the show’s executives, he caused a stir when the CBS broadcast featured subtitles describing his lyrics as “singing in a language other than English.”
The all-too-common xenophobic knee-jerk reaction to Latin American artists is often triggered by language alone. Just this June, singer Nezza, who is of Colombian and Dominican descent, was asked to sing the national anthem at a Dodgers game. She had prepared to sing “El Pendón Estrellado,” a Spanish version written by Clotilde Arias in 1945, after the State Department’s Department of Cultural Cooperation requested translated versions of the “Star Spangled Banner.” (These were requested as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy” toward Latin America.) According to some reports, Dodgers officials told her at the last minute that she would not be allowed to sing in Spanish — but she did so anyway, angering conservatives and sparking outrage and insults online.
Nezza explained her decision in a statement to ROLLING STONE at the time, saying, “Representation matters.” She added: “For those clutching their pearls, it is important to know: In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself commissioned an official Spanish version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to honor and include Latin Americans. This version – “El Pendón Estrellado” – tells exactly the same story, word for word in meaning, and has exactly the same melody. The essence of the anthem does not change with language. So why was I told I couldn’t sing them? That has to make sense.”
Conservatives are against anything Latin American
Due to longstanding prejudices, Latin artists have been viewed with suspicion, doubt and even outrage throughout music history, but these attitudes have evolved into something far more intense and sinister under the current administration. Bad Bunny’s appearance at the Super Bowl comes at a time when the government has antagonized Latino communities, spread anti-Latino rhetoric, and treated immigrants with abject cruelty by callously celebrating images of violent, often brutal arrests and brutal incarcerations.
Even speaking Spanish is viewed by conservatives as different and portrayed as anti-American. As soon as Trump took office, he issued an executive order making English the official language of the United States, while the White House removed Spanish translations from its official websites. Viral videos on social media show right-wingers confronting people who speak Spanish and associating the language with those who don’t “belong” here, ignoring the fact that 18 percent of the population is bilingual.
But despite the rhetoric rooted in such an ugly history, Bad Bunny will still take the stage in February and perform his songs in the language in which he wrote them. This moment will represent millions of people in this country, including many Latinos, who make up 20 percent of the population. What he will say or do is ultimately up to him, but the very fact that he is stepping into the spotlight will be a political statement – one that speaks to his roots, his heritage and the history of Latin American artists who helped him get here. Whatever the case, it will be a moment of self-expression – and one that is also deeply American.