The announcement of the Super Bowl LX halftime show performer had people feeling one of two ways; some people were excited for the revealed singer, but many people felt very disappointed. The singer unmasked was Bad Bunny, the popular Puerto Rican artist who’s been releasing music since his debut single in December of 2016.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was born and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His discography is primarily in Spanish. He has seven studio albums, with the most streamed of these being “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which has over twenty billion total streams on Spotify since its release in 2022. His IMDb reports he holds 78 awards, including three Grammys and eight Latin Grammys.
Right-wing politicians and citizens have been speaking out against letting Bad Bunny perform, causing a huge controversy. In articles by many news sources, including People Magazine and Variety, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the choice “a terrible decision,” and he stated that the artist of the show shouldn’t be a trend, but someone with real artistry, offering up Lee Greenwood as his choice.
Even whole organizations are stepping in, with the late Charlie Kirk’s own Turning Point USA announcing their own event called “The All-American Halftime Show,” which plans to stand on American and Christian family values, at the exact same time as Bad Bunny’s performance. Many people view this as extremely racist, as Bad Bunny is an American citizen from Puerto Rico, one of America’s five inhabited territories, and was raised in a Roman Catholic household.
These beliefs are not just being expressed by those in power. There is still currently a running petition on change.org to replace Bad Bunny with George Strait, with over 100 thousand signatures at the time of writing. That may seem like a lot of people, but if you’re familiar with the numbers from this year’s Super Bowl, over 125 million people were watching. The Super Bowl Halftime Show has been on an upward trend of viewers for years, and this Super Bowl isn’t expected to be much different. So far, none of the leading groups responsible for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which is the NFL itself, Roc Nation, or Apple Music, have responded to the petition or the backlash of their decision.
These remarks of intolerance have made their way to the US cabinet, with the advisor of the Department of Homeland Security, Corey Lewandowski, saying that ICE agents will be present and patrolling the Super Bowl game. The New York Times reported on comments made by Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, where she stated ICE will be “all over” the event.
Bad Bunny has expressed previous concerns about such action being taken by the government. In fact, ICE was the exact reason he decided not to bring his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour to America. In an interview with Suzy Exposito of i-D Magazine, Bad Bunny stated, “But there was the issue of—like, … ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.” The support of his many American fans is expected to be felt heavily at the now anticipated performance.
We typically don’t see so much controversy surrounding what is regarded as one of the most televised and unifying events of the year. It just goes to show that in America now, everything is connected to politics. Everything can and will be commented on by politicians, and the collision of politics and pop culture is more prevalent now than ever before.
