Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime performer is an obvious – and subversive – choice
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Perhaps Kendrick Lamar was speaking to the present and the future when he said during his Super Bowl halftime performance months back that “the revolution ‘bout to be televised.”
The announcement Sunday that superstar Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny will headline the next Super Bowl halftime show marks the second time in a row that the National Football League has co-signed an artist who is deemed “controversial” by some of the league’s supporters.
Lamar, a rapper from Compton, California, angered some conservative viewers with the political symbolism he utilized during his performance at Super Bowl LIX in February..
Some of the costumes, choreography and Lamar’s lyrics referenced systemic inequality and racism in the United States, all while the game was attended by President Donald Trump.
But while Lamar has mostly used his art to express his sentiments, Bad Bunny has been more overt about his dissatisfaction with the current administration.
In 2024, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign for the presidency against Trump. He reposted a video of Harris in a speech referencing Trump’s leadership during his first term in office after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” Harris said in the video. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Bad Bunny, whose non-stage name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, made the post after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks at a Trump rally in New York City in which he referred to Puerto Rico, a US commonwealth, as “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
Later, during an appearance on the New York Times “Popcast” podcast, Ocasio explained that he was “angry at the time” as he was in New York City while the rally where Hinchcliffe made his comments was being held at nearby Madison Square Garden.
Ocasio said he found the incident “bothersome.”
“Yeah, I know it was a comedian, blah, blah, blah, but that wasn’t a standup comedy show,” Ocasio said. “It was supposed to be a political rally.”
The music video for Bad Bunny’s single “NUEVAYol” took aim at some of Trump’s harsher policies, while also paying tribute to the artist’s native Puerto Rico.
Ocasio recently told i-D magazine that he purposely did not include the continental United States in his 2025-2026 concert tour out of fear that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could potentially raid the concert venues.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times,” he told the publication. “All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the US.”
US residents could travel to Puerto Rico for his residency performances (which has been an economic boon for his homeland), but the global superstar said he was not willing to pose a possible risk for his fans.
“But there was the issue of—like, f**king ICE could be outside [my concert],” Ocasio said. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
His selection for the Super Bowl halftime show has incensed some on the right who have criticized Ocasio as a “Trump hater.”
It’s certainly not the first time the NFL has had to deal with cultural controversy.
In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, the then San Franciso 49ers quarterback, sparked debate after he began kneeling during the National Anthem at the beginning of his games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the US.
He was released from the team and his perceived subsequent treatment by the NFL when no other teams picked him up, resulted in calls for a boycott.
The league moved to sooth public anger in 2019 by announcing a partnership with rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation. As part of the deal, Jay-Z was made live music entertainment strategist in charge of producing the halftime show and aiding the NFL with social justice initiatives.
The deal was extended in 2024.
Jay-Z was initially met with criticism for agreeing to work with the NFL. He defended his decision during a 2019 interview.
“The NFL has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” Jay-Z said at the time. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
That inclusivity has been on display with the selections of both Lamar and Ocasio, the latter of whom Jay-Z praised in a statement tied to the announcement.
“What Benito has done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring,” Jay-Z said. We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage.”
Ironically, one of the Super Bowl performances that had the biggest backlash regarding its presentation of politics was Jay Z’s wife, superstar Beyoncé, when she performed at the halftime show during Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Super Bowl LX is scheduled to take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8, 2026.
The-CNN-Wire
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