Bad Bunny Super Bowl show sparks anti-American backlash

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show is officially behind us. Mercifully. What started with hype and outrage, and then more outrage, ended with a show most charitably described as polarizing and confusing to those who weren’t already Bad Bunny fans. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell promised that Bad Bunny will use the show to unite the world in a “really creative and entertaining way.” It turns out he was right. Except for some Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, most of the country is united in disgust at a program that is narrowly tailored to a niche audience despite being billed as inclusive and respectful of America.

Pre-show excitement over Bad Bunny’s invitation to this year’s Super Bowl began when he appeared on SNL demanding that viewers “learn Spanish.” He took the dig at the pre-Super Bowl press conference, but that thought turned out to be true.

Then there were rumors online that Bad Bunny would wear a dress and honor Hispanic LGBTQ+ figures during his halftime performance. It turned out to be a scam.

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You’ve got to give it to Bad Bunny and his marketing team. In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, they managed to capture people’s attention, whether positive or not.

His Super Bowl halftime show was a condensed version of the show he performed during his stay in Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny started with a walk through a sugar cane field while America watched. Opening with “Tití Me Preguntó (“My Aunt Asked Me”),” she walked past several props unique to Puerto Rico, such as a coconut water stand and a domino table. When he arrived at a house, audiences were greeted with a mix of his many other hits before moving on to a tribute to ’90s and 2000s reggaeton and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it depiction of two men grinding.

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If the program were in English, we’d hear a mostly positive message from Bad Bunny: “My name is Benito Martinez Ocasio. And if I’m here today at Super Bowl LX, it’s because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should believe in yourself, too. You’re worth more than you think. Believe me.”

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

We then cut to the show’s highlight: Lady Gaga joining a salsa band in a version of “Die With a Smile” on a stage built to resemble the El Morro castle in Old San Juan; It’s a moment that perhaps most of those in Levi Stadium could sing along to.

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But wait, there’s more. This continues with Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable (Unforgettable Dance),” “Nueva Yol (New York)” and the symbolic handover of his Grammy.

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Up to this point, there was nothing in the series that could be perceived as overtly anti-American. That changed when Ricky Martin started singing the chorus of “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii (What Happened to Hawaii)”:

They want to take the rivers and beaches from me They want to take my neighborhood and they want my grandma gone No, don’t drop the flag and don’t forget le lo lai (the song) I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii

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“What happened to Hawaii” was its admission to the Union as the 50th state. Bad Bunny, who sings under the auspices of a record label founded by a former Venezuelan intelligence officer, would prefer Puerto Rico to secede from the United States to become an independent country; This was an option favored by only 12% of voters on the island in 2024. Records show Bad Bunny also supported the pro-independence, Chavez and Castro-sympathetic candidate for governor of Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on February 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Grammy-winning artist’s halftime show ended with a depiction of power outages, the title “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” and a Grammy quote saying “The only thing stronger than hate is love” flashing across the big screen.

Bad Bunny left the field with a team carrying flags. “God Bless America!” really meant “America, as it is” american continentNot the United States. It’s contrived, confusing, and a sly yet passive-aggressively anti-American grand finale.

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This begs the question: Why invite Bad Bunny to the show in the first place? Could the NFL make a business case for hiring him as a halfback? Yes. As the league expands into Latin America and other markets, Bad Bunny makes sense. For example, they both share Mexico as their largest overseas market. This was a no-brainer.

Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga stand on the field during the Super Bowl LX halftime show between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

On the other hand, this was a clear failure of review. The halftime show was carefully constructed to popularize two similarly toxic ideas to audiences in the United States: first, the idea that Puerto Rico is a separate nation from the United States. Second, the idea of ​​Latino identity as a nation within a nation, a permanent immigrant status separate from the American mainstream.

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Far from uniting the world “in a really creative and entertaining way,” Bad Bunny delivered a deeply divisive show that put identity politics front and center. The final product fell far short of Goodell’s hype and left a sour taste in the mouths of millions of viewers.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at a press conference on the state of the NFL ahead of the Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots on Monday, February 2, 2026 in San Jose, California. (AP Photo/Matt York)

One shudders to think what the league might have in mind for next year if they insist on sacrificing their core audience in favor of global expansion.