Jill Zarin‘s dreams of returning to reality TV have been dashed after she was fired from E!’s upcoming reality TV series, The Golden Life, over racist comments she made about Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
After Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl performance, Zarin, who’s best known as an original cast member of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City, shared an Instagram video in which she called Bad Bunny’s set the “worst halftime show ever.” “We all agree — it was the worst halftime show ever. It’s 250 years that we’re celebrating right now in the United States, and I just don’t think it was appropriate to have it in Spanish,” she said. “And, quite frankly, grabbing his G [groin] area, I think it was totally inappropriate. You’ve got all these young kids watching the Super Bowl and he doesn’t have to be grabbing himself every five seconds because he’s so insecure.”
Zarin continued her rant by speculating that Bad Bunny‘s performance was a “political statement” against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while claiming that the NFL “sold out” by having him perform. “I don’t speak Spanish, I would have liked to have known the words he was saying, it looked like a political statement because there were literally no white people in the entire thing […] I think it was a political statement, and I’m not taking a side one way or the other, I just do, I think it was an ICE thing and I just think that the NFL sold out, and it’s a very sad thing. Seventy-five years and, you know … shame. Shame,” she said.
Why was Jill Zarin fired from The Golden Life?
After her video went viral, Zarin, who has since deleted the post, was fired from her upcoming E! reality TV series, The Golden Life, which was set to reunite her and her former Real Housewives of New York City co-stars for a new show set in Palm Beach, Florida. The series was also set to include Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, Luann de Lesseps, and Kelly Bensimon.
“In light of recent public comments made by Jill Zarin, Blink49 Studios has decided not to move forward with her involvement in ‘The Golden Life.’ We remain committed to delivering the series in line with our company standards and values,” the show’s producers Blink49 Studios said in a statement at the time.
After her rant, Morgan seemingly shaded Zarin with a post on her Instagram commending Bad Bunny for his performance. “Celebrating with my chosen family Bad Bunny’s Grammy. ❤️ While also reiterating that he’s the first Latino to win one and just showing my love for my Latin friends and supporters. 🫶🏻 Pictured here with my team, and my models for my Sonja Morgan New York Fashion show for #NYFW 💃🏻💃🏼💃🏾💃🏽💃🕺🏻🕺🕺🏿🕺🏼,” she wrote before quoting her own line from The Real Housewives of New York City: “I have a huge Latin following “ ( and proud of it!) – Sonja Morgan. Morgan ended her post with another message to her followers: “Let’s not be devisive [sic]. Let’s be incluuuuusive.”
Howver, Morgan isn’t the only Housewife to condemn Zarin. Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge, who co-starred with Zarin on Season 2 of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, tweeted, “What the actual F*#k”. Real Housewives of Dubai star Chanel Ayan tweeted: “I had to unfollow disgusting” with a vomit emoji. Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs tweeted, “I’m horrified, disgusted and disappointed, but that’s my feeling everyday. BUT elated by the NFL and Bad Bunny’s beautiful representation of America.”
Zarin’s daughter, Ally Shapiro, whom she shares with ex-husband Steven Shapiro, also disagreed with her mom and commended Bad Bunny’s performance. “IMO I loved it [so much],” Shapiro wrote on her Instagram Story with a clip from the show. “The cinematography was fantastic. It was like they put filter over it it looked like a film.”
She continued, “Best halftime show in years. Which honestly is weird to even call it that it was like a true performance with a story line and actors and the direction, lighting everything was perfect.”
Even Zarin’s former company, Zarin Fabrics, called her out for her post. “Zarin Fabrics stands firmly against racism, discrimination, and rhetoric that seeks to exclude or diminish people based on identity, culture, or background,” Zarin Fabrics wrote in an Instagram post. “We want to be absolutely clear that Jill Zarin has not had ownership of or been associated with Zarin Fabrics for several years.”
One Housewife seemingly on Zarin’s side is her former Real Housewives of New York City co-star Bethenny Frankel, who shared similar sentiments to Zarin in a since-deleted TikTok video. “Can’t wait to get cancelled for this,” Frankel said in the video. “The question remains. Should these entertainment vehicles, whether the Grammys, the Emmys, the Oscars, the Super Bowl, should this be the place for personal, cultural, political views to be expressed?”
“Certainly there are major world events that take place, whether COVID or tragedies, 9/11, and it’s unavoidable that it’s discussed, but where is the line?” she said. Frankel went onto compare Bad Bunny’s performance to “Dave Chapelle expressing himself” by sharing transphobic views onstage in 2021, Richard Gere “getting into trouble” by condemning the Chinese government at the 1993 Oscars, and Billie Eilish calling out ICE in her 2026 Grammys speech.
“Where is the line?” Frankel said before noting that Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos aren’t “allowed to express any opinions about anything going on” during their morning show, Live With Kelly and Mark. She concluded, “That show… they can barely discuss anything going on. It’s an entertainment vehicle, and they keep it that way.”
After deleting the video, Frankel seemed to walk back her comments by praising Bad Bunny’s performance in a new video. So my take on Bad Bunny and his performance at the Super Bowl is that he is an artist expressing himself, his music and his experience as a Puerto Rican man in America,” Frankel said. “Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican man in America on the largest stage in the world, which is very inspirational to people because that is him expressing his experience in his first language.”