Bad Bunny’s Superbowl Halftime Show

Last weekend the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 to win Super Bowl 60 in San Francisco. With Running Back Kenneth Walker III being awarded the Most Valuable Player. It was a very one-sided game as the Patriots didn’t score at all until the fourth quarter. Despite the game not being the most exciting Super Bowl in history, there was one particular part that made history.

Bad Bunny

The Super Bowl halftime show is a tradition that began in the 60s, serving as entertainment for those who don’t particularly watch football, who were invited to the watch party. The Super Bowl halftime show has evolved from a college marching band all the way to what it is today. With some of the world’s most recognized artists performing throughout the years. This includes Prince, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Dr Dre, Snoop Dog, and of course, Michael Jackson. Since the Super Bowl is widely recognized as the most-viewed event each year, whoever performs during its halftime is instantly recognized as one of the greats.

This narrative was no different for Super Bowl 60’s halftime performer, Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican artist had just won three Grammys a few nights before, but his fame was only rising. Ever since he was announced as the performer for the event, he has faced backlash from particularly republican representatives and voters. Even the President of the United States, Donald Trump, stating his disapproval.

NUEVAYoL (New York)

This came as a result of Bad Bunny’s apparent swipe at the President in the music video for his song “NUEVAYoL,” released in July 2025. In the video, there is a shot of a Puerto Rican flag being strung along the forehead of the Statue of Liberty, which then smash cuts to an AI generated voice of Donald Trump apologizing to American immigrants stating “this country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Columbians, Venezuelans, Cubans…” (2:42) This was not a statement Trump actually made and was meant to serve as a message to the mass deportations and ICE involvement in America that began ever since Trump was elected to office last year.

Despite the criticism and oppression, he was trying to highlight in the “NUEVAYoL” video, Bad Bunny told USA Today that, “his Super Bowl performance will focus on promoting unity.” In response to the Selection of Bad Bunny as the halftime performer, the Trump Administration and Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced that they would host an alternative

A Second Halftime Show

Kid Rock at the TPUSA halftime show

“All-American” halftime show, according to the New York Times magazine. A huge controversy began as the Turning Point USA halftime show would feature only “American” artists.

This is an ironic narrative since Bad Bunny was born in America, as he is from Puerto Rico, an American Territory that was acquired from Spain in 1898, and its civilians being granted U.S. Citizenship in 1917. The choice by the Trump Administration to host their own halftime show in response to Bad Bunny’s performance leads people to believe in the President’s oppressive nature toward Hispanic territories and his borderline racism.

Most Viewed Halftime Show

Nonetheless, Bad Bunny made Super Bowl history as his halftime show was the most viewed of all time at 135 million viewers, just passing Kendrick Lamar and Michael Jackson’s performances from last year and 1993. Bad Bunny went the extra step as he kept his word, making the Super Bowl a representation of unity.

Bad Bunny

During the entire halftime performance, Bad Bunny is seen holding a football in his arm as he dances through the stage fit with plenty of cultural references, including the “fields of Puerto Rico,” a boxing ring, a barber shop, domino tables, and even a real wedding between two of Bunny’s good friends. Finally, at the end of his performance, he reveals the football he had been holding has the words, “TOGETHER WE ARE AMERICA” in all caps, as well as the message “The only thing more powerful than hate, is love” being displayed on the scoreboard during the entire performance. Many Puerto Ricans and Hispanic Americans in general felt very represented as this year’s Super Bowl was more than likely the most viewed Puerto Rican event of all time.

President Trump, who admitted to not watching the Turning Point halftime show according to People Magazine, took to X to share his thoughts on Bad Bunny’s performance. Stating “The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!… Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting.” This message by the president not only furthered but also strengthened people’s belief about his oppressive behavior for criticizing the halftime because it was entirely performed in Spanish. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and spoken by 13% of its population. The Turning Point USA halftime show, on the other hand, had only 6 million Viewers according to the NY Times, Trump not being one of them. This performance was quickly forgotten after fans pointed out lip-syncing issues with performer Kid Rock.

Super Bowl LX

Not to mention, it’s not like the NFL would be breaking any kind of barriers by having an artist who was not American born performing at the Super Bowl anyway. They have had countless performers from all over the world deliver very memorable performances.

This includes Paul McCartney in 2005, who is from the UK, Rihanna from Barbados in 2023, U2 from Ireland in 2002, the Weekend from Canada in 2021, and of course, Shakira from Colombia and Jennifer Lopez, who is also Puerto Rican, in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term. However, you may interpret it, Bad Bunny’s message about love and positivity is one that made history for the NFL, Puerto Rico, and Hispanic communities as a whole; a message more people should definitely listen to, especially our “leaders.”