On February 8, 2026, the NFL will hold its 60th Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Many people tune in to watch the great game; however, another big event that also interests a whole other group of people is the famous halftime show that occurs midway through the football game. In the past, performers like Rihanna, Usher, and Kendrick Lamar have taken the grand stage, and this year, this privilege is bestowed upon Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny. Though every Super Bowl has sparked controversy amongst fans, this year faces a “new” kind.
The heavy divide between Republicans and Democrats, as well as conservatives and liberals in America today, has found its way into the Super Bowl halftime. Bad Bunny, or Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has publicly announced his political views surrounding Trump, ICE, LGBTQ+, etc., on numerous occasions. He has spoken out in an interview for the i-D 375 “The Beta Issue” saying, “People from the US could come here to see the show.[…]But there was the issue of—like, f——g ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.” These reasons mainly revolved around why he chose not to tour in America.
Although the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, has said that selecting Bad Bunny was a matter of trying to “unite people”, backlash from the conservative side has been incredibly loud and prominent in the media. Politicians like Tommy Tuberville have nicknamed the Super Bowl the “Woke Bowl” and have stated that the halftime show is “off-limits” this year in an interview with Newsmax. Even Trump has come out on Newsmax saying that he “doesn’t know who he is,” and that it is crazy to choose such an artist.
In response to the controversy, a conservative non-profit known as Turning Point USA has posted on X saying that they will be holding an “alternate halftime show” to Bad Bunny’s and naming it the “The All American Halftime Show.” It will be hosted by Kid Rock, a long-time supporter of President Trump, who claims this show will instill “faith, family, and freedom” values.
Frankly, this whole situation is just a prime example of the extremely biased views of the conservative party. People have been spreading rumors on numerous social media platforms, saying that he’s an illegal immigrant and that he’s enforcing “Anti-American” values by singing and rapping in Spanish. First of all, Bad Bunny is a US citizen. Having been born and raised in Puerto Rico, which is considered part of US territory, he sings in Spanish to connect with his culture. In an NBC interview, he has stated, “I think in Spanish, I feel in Spanish, I eat in Spanish, I sing in Spanish.”
These absurd claims only reflect the intentions of those making them. Previous performers like Shakira and Jenifer Lopez at the 2020 Super Bowl incorporated parts of their heritage and sang in Spanish, which was taken positively and celebrated. Many other performers, like Rihanna, had ASL interpreters on-screen to appeal to a wider audience. This act has also been viewed in the past as “too woke” by the conservative community. The most politically controversial Super Bowl performance before Bad Bunny was Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 show for being too “trashy” and “ghetto” for his lyrics and style, which took place only a few weeks after Trump’s 2nd inauguration.
As for the “All-American Halftime Show,” the whole thing feels incredibly off. In a country that until a recent executive order had no official language and that has no official religion, the whole show feels very counterintuitive to this, especially as they had a survey for the music viewers desired, and one option was “anything in English”: a clear dig at Bad Bunny.
Overall, the current political climate, determined through violence and hatred, encourages groups such as MAGA and conservative parties to retaliate against a U.S.-born citizen for honoring his culture.
