{"id":463839,"date":"2026-02-09T14:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/463839\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:17:10","slug":"bad-bunnys-super-bowl-halftime-performance-showcases-love-and-latino-pride-and-sparks-trumps-scorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/463839\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance showcases love and Latino pride \u2014 and sparks Trump’s scorn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bad Bunny promised a high-energy party<\/a> ahead of his Super Bowl halftime show performance \u2014 and the “King of Latin Trap” delivered.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican superstar took to an elaborate set depicting a landscape from his home island on Sunday night, performing 13 tracks in just under that many minutes at the halftime show put on by Jay-Z\u2019s Roc Nation and Apple Music. <\/p>\n

Kicking off the night with a rendition of Tit\u00ed Me Pregunt\u00f3, Bad Bunny strutted through the set past symbols of Puerto Rican life and culture in an all-white suit. <\/p>\n

But the artist opted against using his massive platform to make any overt denunciation of U.S. President Donald Trump or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in the United States \u2014 instead presenting a message of unity among the people of the Americas. <\/p>\n

The performance atop music\u2019s biggest stage is part of a victory lap after a banger year for the Puerto Rican artist born Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio. The release of his massively successful sixth studio album, DeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS, helped make him the most streamed artist in the world<\/a> in 2025, according to Spotify.<\/p>\n

He played a 30-day residency in Puerto Rico last year and will soon set out touring that album in Europe, Latin America and Asia. This comes on the heels of the star\u2019s big wins at the Grammys just last weekend<\/a> \u2014 including making history with the first all-Spanish language record to win album of the year, for the aforementioned DtMF.<\/p>\n

\"aBad Bunny performs alongside legions of backup dancers during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game. (Morry Gash\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The performance was checkered with references to Puerto Rico \u2014 from dancers in pava hats, women at a makeshift nail salon and older men playing dice around a table, to the classic dessert Benito picks up from a roadside stand, or the typical Puerto Rican house \u2014 la casita \u2014 which Bad Bunny crashed through the roof of part way through the performance. Inside the casita at the star\u2019s mock house party, some Latin celebs could be spotted, including Karol G, Jessica Alba and Pedro Pascal.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time Benito graced the stage at the Super Bowl. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez (both of<\/a> whom<\/a> cheered him on ahead of the performance) brought Bad Bunny out as a guest in 2020 when they co-headlined the event, in what the duo said <\/a>would be a landmark moment for Latino culture and music.<\/p>\n

And while Spanish language genres were on display then, tonight is arguably a bigger landmark: Bad Bunny performed solely in Spanish, making him the first halftime act to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"aBad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game in Santa Clara, Calif. (Matt Slocum\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In classic halftime show tradition, Bad Bunny didn\u2019t come alone, either. Lady Gaga joined him on stage, borrowing some classic salsa sound for a dance-y version of her song with Bruno Mars, Die With A Smile, before taking the main act\u2019s hand for a brief dance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny then burst into a performance of NUEVAYoL surrounded by backup dancers before handing a Grammy award to a little boy grinning from ear to ear, who many viewers took to represent a younger version of Benito himself. Some commenters online thought the boy bore similarities to<\/a> five year old Liam Ramos, however \u2014 a young boy who was picked up by ICE alongside his father last month.<\/a><\/p>\n

While the singer wasn’t sending an overt political message, some of the song choices made a statement. With backup dancers dangling from power lines and the stadium lights flashing, Bad Bunny sang El Apag\u00f3n \u2014 which translates to “The Blackout,” in reference to socioeconomic issues in Puerto Rico, and the frequent power outages its citizens experience.\u00a0Fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin also came out to sing one of Bad Bunny’s tracks about fears of gentrification at home on a set that mirrored the album cover art for DtMF.<\/p>\n

Whether the Puerto Rican star would get political was a big question hanging over the performance in the lead-up to it last week, given Bad Bunny has been critical of Trump and his immigration enforcement policies in the past, and following his critical message for ICE at the Grammys.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican music sensation and longtime Trump critic, delivered a passionate Super Bowl halftime show:\"\"<\/p>\n

Bad Bunny wows fans, irks MAGA with Super Bowl halftime show<\/p>\n

Puerto Rican music sensation, and longtime Trump critic, Bad Bunny, delivered a passionate Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show that many in the MAGA movement derided as \u201ctoo woke\u201d before it even took place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, politics were bound to be in play, given the critical reaction from some conservatives<\/a> when Bad Bunny was first announced as the headliner in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA aired a counter-program billed as the “All-American Half Time Show,” which went on at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"aBad Bunny’s song about blackouts in Puerto Rico lent a political element to the performance. (Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

There, Kid Rock took the stage as the headliner, joined by country artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett in a performance that started with an electric guitar rendition of the U.S. national anthem before launching into rock and country tracks with America-centric themes.<\/p>\n

Love and Latino pride, but no mentions of Trump or ‘ICE out’<\/p>\n

That alternative show is the one U.S. President Donald Trump said he\u2019d be watching. In January, Trump told the New York Post<\/a> that he wouldn\u2019t be attending the Super Bowl \u2014 mostly due to distance, though he also said he didn\u2019t like Bad Bunny or opening ceremonies act Green Day. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told media last week<\/a> that the president preferred a Kid Rock performance over a Bad Bunny one.<\/p>\n

Following halftime, however, the president focused his attention on Bad Bunny\u2019s performance, calling it<\/a> one of the worst halftime shows ever and a “slap in the face” to America on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

\"aBad Bunny leads flagbearers waving flags of Latin American countries during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game in Santa Clara, Calif. (Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In the end, Benito championed love and Latino pride over any outright digs. As a chorus of singers belted the longing DtMF, the title track from Bad Bunny\u2019s most recent album, the star led a lineup of flagbearers waving the flags of various Latin American countries, expressing love for the nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod bless America,\u201d the singer said, before listing Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, too, plus a number of other countries from the Americas \u2014 including Canada \u2014 and holding up a football that said “Together, we are America.”<\/p>\n

And behind him on a screen in the stadium, one simple statement in all caps displayed for the stadium to see, reading “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”<\/p>\n