When news hit that Bad Bunny would headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime, his fans rejoiced. The choice made sense given that the Puerto Rican superstar is among the most streamed artists on the planet, and the performance is also set to make history: Because Bad Bunny doesn’t sing in English, this will be the first halftime show in Spanish.
Bad Bunny took pride in that fact. “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” he said in a statement on the day of the announcement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
However, the right had an entirely different reaction. Conservative commentators immediately attacked the decision of Roc Nation, the NFL, and Apple Music and launched into a full meltdown on social media. They latched onto the fact that Bad Bunny would not be singing in English and grumbled about his political and immigration stances. (He has been outspoken about Puerto Rican independence and has called out Trump’s immigration policies, saying in a recent interview that he decided not to tour in the U.S. because of fears that ICE would harass his Latino fanbase.) “The NFL is self-destructing year after year,” MAGA YouTuber Benny Johnson wrote on X.
Their protests got more dramatic as Trump advisors, and even Trump himself, weighed in. Trump called the decision to have Bad Bunny headline “absolutely ridiculous,” while the organization Turning Point USA went as far as setting up a “counterprogram” called “The All-American Halftime Show” as an alternative to the star’s performance. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny has commented little, save for an SNL monologue poking fun at the situation.
Here’s everything that’s happened so far.
Bad Bunny Delivers a Pro-Immigrant Message in Video for “Nuevayol”
Bad Bunny has often been outspoken when it comes to politics in Puerto Rico, but he did use the video for “Nuevayol” to speak up against the immigration policies of the current administration. Toward the end of the video, a voice that sounds a lot like Donald Trump’s bellows out of a Seventies radio and says the following: “I made a mistake. I want to apologize to the immigrants in America. I mean the United States. I know America is the whole continent. I want to say that this country is nothing without the immigrants. This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans.”
Bad Bunny Says He Didn’t Tour in the U.S. Because of ICE
Speaking to i-D, Bad Bunny said he would be skipping the U.S. during his DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS tour over concerns that large gatherings of Latinos in the U.S. could be magnets for the Trump administration’s anti-immigration efforts. “There was the issue of — like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he said of the decision.
Bad Bunny Is Announced As 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Performer
After much speculation over who would play the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny was announced as the headliner. The Puerto Rican star shared the news in an Instagram post during the matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. In a short video, Bad Bunny’s hit song “Callaita” plays as he sits atop a goal post on the shore of a Puerto Rican beach, wearing a pava hat. That same night, he went on X and seemed to reference his past comments about touring in the U.S. “After speaking with my team, I think I’ll do just one show in the United States,” he wrote in Spanish.
Right-Wingers Melt Down Following Announcement
After the announcement, several right-wing figures went on social media to blast the decision. A big source of their displeasure seemed to be that Bad Bunny has no songs in English, making this the first Super Bowl Halftime that’ll be in Spanish. “Massive Trump hater. Anti-ICE activist. No songs in English,” MAGA YouTuber Benny Johnson wrote on X.
Conservative commentator Greg Price griped that “the NFL chose Bad Bunny to perform the Super Bowl halftime show despite the fact that he recently said he wouldn’t perform in the continental United States again because ICE is deporting illegal aliens.”
Kristi Noem Says ICE Will Be At Bad Bunny’s Halftime Performance
Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski went on Benny Johnson’s “The Benny Show,” where the host asked him if “ICE will have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime.”
Lewandowski took the moment to make it about immigration and the administration’s strict policies. “We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you,” he threatened. “So know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is completely contrary to how it used to be.”
Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, backed Lewandowski at a later appearance on “The Benny Show,” saying ICE will be “all over” the 2026 Super Bowl.
“I have the responsibility for making sure everybody goes to the Super Bowl, has the opportunity to enjoy it and to leave, and that’s what America’s about,” Noem said in the clip. “So yeah, we’ll be all over that place. We’re going to enforce the law.”
Bad Bunny Addresses Backlash During SNL Monologue
Bad Bunny hosted SNL on Oct. 4 and took the opportunity to poke fun at the political reaction he received over his Super Bowl announcement. He joked that “everyone is happy” about his future gig, “even Fox News.” After, the show spliced together several right-wing hosts on the right-wing network combining to say, “Bad Bunny. Is. My favorite. Musician. And he should be the next. President.”
“I’m very excited to be doing the Super Bowl, and I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy,” he said before continuing in Spanish. “… Especially all the Latinos and Latinas in the whole world, and here in the United States, all the people who have worked to open doors, more than I have achieved, who have achieved everything, demonstrating that our way, our carrying of this country, no one can ever remove nor erase.”
Trump Calls Bad Bunny Performance ‘Ridiculous’
A few days after Bad Bunny’s SNL appearance, Trump went on Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports, where he was asked about the Puerto Rican star’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Trump took a few shots and emphasized that he doesn’t know Bad Bunny. “I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy, and then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, other conservative commentators seemed to be watching Bad Bunny’s every move. When video surfaced of him sitting down during “God Bless America” at a Yankees game, they spiraled again. MAGA figure Tomi Lahren posted on X: “Bad Bunny appears to stay seated during ‘God Bless America’ at Yankee Stadium… Yeah, because he has a clear disdain for America. He’s an -sshole.”
Turning Point USA Announces Halftime Counterprogram
Turning Point USA, the conservative group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced that it would put together a counterprogram during Bad Bunny’s performance, calling it “The All-American Halftime Show” to celebrate “faith, family, and freedom.”
On their website, the organization included a contact form to give their followers a chance to request music and artists. They offered a few options, including worship music, country, and “Anything in English.”