Bad Bunny Super Bowl 60 controversy, explained: Why NFL kept halftime show despite MAGA backlash originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

While reports tied the Super Bowl 60 halftime show to Adele, Miley Cyrus and even Taylor Swift, the NFL pulled out a wild card with its selection in the fall, choosing Latin trap megastar Bad Bunny as its performer.

While Bad Bunny’s audience is more global than American-based, he is one of the world’s most popular artists and is expected to command massive interest when he takes the stage at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The decision by the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to choose Bad Bunny didn’t come without controversy, due in part to the Grammy Award winner’s history of political comments.

Here’s what you need to know about Bad Bunny and how his selection as the Super Bowl 60 halftime performer stirred controversy.

MORE: Five best Super Bowl halftime shows in NFL history

Who is Bad Bunny?

Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer and rapper named Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio.

Bad Bunny is a six-time Grammy Award winner, 16-time Billboard Music Award winner and 17-time Latin Grammy Award winner. He most recently won three Grammy Awards at the 2026 Grammys, held one week before Super Bowl 60.

One of the most popular artists worldwide at the moment, Bad Bunny has had 113 songs reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His popularity began to grow in the United States in 2018, when he was featured on Cardi B’s hit “I Like It,” and he added to that momentum when he released the album “YHLQMDLG” in 2020.

Bad Bunny most recently released his album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” in early 2025, powering him to three Grammy Awards in 2026. While he first rose to fame in Latin America and much of his work is in Spanish, he has twice hosted “Saturday Night Live” and made a cameo appearance in “Happy Gilmore 2.”

Bad Bunny previously made a guest appearance during the Super Bowl 54 halftime show headlined by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.

MORE: Five worst Super Bowl halftime shows in NFL history

Why is Bad Bunny so controversial?

Like any musician who openly shares his or her political opinions, Bad Bunny isn’t everyone’s favorite. Any artist who takes a stand knows there will be others who take a much different stand of their own, and controversy is going to ensue in some form.

While Bad Bunny remains one of the world’s most popular artists, he is still being introduced to some in the United States because he doesn’t sing in English, a decision he has defended over the years.

Bad Bunny explained to Vanity Fair in 2023 that he would never perform in a different language just to reach a new audience.

“It’s not like I hate the idea of performing in English,” he said. “It’s just that I feel more comfortable in my own language. I think in Spanish, I feel in Spanish, I eat in Spanish, I sing in Spanish.”

While opinions vary on the idea of the NFL choosing an artist who exclusively performs Spanish to handle Super Bowl halftime duties, it’s something brand new on the Super Bowl stage, and change naturally breeds controversy.

Perhaps more controversial is Bad Bunny’s stance on immigration policy in the United States. The rapper called out Donald Trump in 2017 and 2018 over his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and his 2025 song “Nuevayol” mocks Trump’s immigration policies. In 2024, Bad Bunny took a position on the U.S. presidential election, endorsing Kamala Harris.

In 2025 and 2026, Bad Bunny ratcheted up his criticism of the Trump administration, including a decision not to tour in the United States due to immigration policies. “There was the issue of like, f—ing ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he told i-D Magazine, explaining his decision to avoid U.S. concerts.

At the 2026 Grammys, Bad Bunny reiterated his opposition to ICE, telling the crowd during an acceptance speech, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ICE out. We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”

Trump, meanwhile, called the decision to choose Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl 60 halftime performer “absolutely ridiculous.” With the United States sharply divided across partisan lines and more than 77 million voting for Trump in 2024, many Americans were naturally quick to take sides as soon as the Super Bowl halftime plans were announced.

MORE:Timeline of Bad Bunny vs. Donald Trump comments

NFL defends Bad Bunny halftime show

The NFL made it clear it chose Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl 60 halftime performer to help expand the league’s global reach, and that desire has outweighed any concerns by politicians or fans in the eyes of the league.

In October, commissioner Roger Goodell defended the decision. “He’s one of the most popular entertainers in the world,” Goodell told reporters. “It’s carefully thought through. I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. … We’re confident it’s going to be a great show. I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.”

According to ESPN, the tension between Trump and the league isn’t as much of a concern for owners compared to 2017 or 2018, when the president took aim at players for protests during the national anthem.

“It doesn’t affect week-to-week games or television coverage. It’s just a halftime show. And I don’t mean that flippantly, but it’s just a halftime show,” an anonymous executive told ESPN.

ESPN revealed that some owners had reservations about a Bad Bunny performance because it’s so different than most other Super Bowl halftime shows, but those concerns were overridden by the potential to expand the league’s global reach.

“I think everybody was just kind of like, ‘OK, we’re going to get on board, because the goal is global reach,'” an executive told ESPN. “And this guy has a massive global reach.”

NFL senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing Marissa Solis told ESPN that Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is tasked with finding “the cultural artist of the year” to perform at the Super Bowl. In Roc Nation’s view, that artist is Bad Bunny. At a time when the NFL is expanding its international footprint during the regular season, it seeks to do so in Super Bowl 60 with Bad Bunny taking the stage.

MORE: Complete list of Super Bowl halftime show performers

Where is Bad Bunny from?

Bad Bunny was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and raised in nearby Vega Baja, which he describes as a “small area” that doesn’t typically produce popular musicians.

To this day, Bad Bunny passionately represents Puerto Rico on the world stage, frequently using the imagery of the island’s flag in his work and defending Puerto Rico when he believed it was slighted by the U.S. government.

Bad Bunny says he was inspired by Puerto Rican rappers and artists, including Vico C, and he attended the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo before dropping out to pursue a musical career.

Does Bad Bunny have songs in English?

Bad Bunny has been featured in songs that include English speakers, but he has primarily released songs in Spanish and has said that he plans to continue to do so going forward.

The rapper told Vanity Fair in 2023 that he feels more comfortable in his “own language” and would not perform in a different language just to attract a new audience.

The results have been tough to argue. Despite singing almost exclusively in Spanish, Bad Bunny has built up a massive fan base that spans continents and is stretching into the United States despite a bit of a language barrier.

Bad Bunny does speak some English and partly spoke to the audience in English at the 2026 Grammy Awards.