{"id":77931,"date":"2025-12-02T08:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T08:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/77931\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T08:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T08:13:07","slug":"usc-professors-weigh-in-on-bad-bunnys-political-involvement-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/77931\/","title":{"rendered":"USC professors weigh in on Bad Bunny\u2019s political involvement \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

While sharing their views about celebrities engaging in politics, two USC professors discussed the abstruse nature of Bad Bunny\u2019s decision to headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.<\/p>\n

The Latin trap and reggaeton artist announced on Sept. 28 that he will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. This news came as a shock to many because the musician cancelled the U.S. leg of his \u201cDeB TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS\u201d tour in early September due to concerns of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) potentially targeting his fans attending the shows.<\/p>\n

In the past, Bad Bunny has expressed his disapproval of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies. In a now-deleted Instagram post <\/a>from June, Bad Bunny said ICE agents weren\u2019t \u201cleaving [the] people working [in Puerto Rico] alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discourse regarding ordinarily apolitical celebrities investing themselves in the political landscape is divided by both government and public opinion. Some praise public figures for mobilizing their fans while others critique them for straying from their traditional line of work.<\/p>\n

Namely, rock artist Bruce Springsteen<\/a> spoke out against the Trump administration with critiques against what he perceives as authoritarianism and its \u201ccorrupt, incompetent and treasonous\u201d leadership. President Trump responded on social media, insulting his political opinions and music, while many of those who attended his Manchester, England concert applauded his advocacy in the moment.<\/p>\n

USC professor of the practice of political science and international relations Steve Swerdlow said music \u201c[plays] a particularly important role in the face of oppression, because it allows us to say, often, what is uncomfortable, what is awkward, what is strange and what is different; it\u2019s incredibly honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swerdlow drew a connection between music and another artistic method of performance frequently criticized for interjections into politics: comedy.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 17, nightly talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended after commenting on the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The parent company of his ABC program, Disney, decided upon his hiatus when Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr argued that Kimmel\u2019s broadcast TV license compelled him to serve public interest, which, in the words of Disney, his \u201cill-timed\u201d and \u201cinsensitive\u201d comments defied.<\/p>\n

Kimmel\u2019s talk show, \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d was ultimately reinstated on Sept. 23, yet the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) questioned<\/a> the ramifications of the precedent established by what they believe to be a form of coerced censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation. In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees,\u201d said the ACLU, with signatures of support from 475 artists.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the organization found that Kimmel\u2019s free expression was directly countered when the FCC recommended his suspension. Similarly, when Bad Bunny initially announced his abstinence from touring in the mainland U.S., Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused the musician of \u201cfearmongering\u201d and \u201cdemonizing\u201d immigration officials, in a written statement sent to NPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, even with the potential risk of \u201ccancel culture\u201d by the entertainment industry that has demonstrated a recent trend of adhering to government requests, considering the timely termination of Stephen Colbert before Kimmel\u2019s suspension, Bad Bunny\u2019s advocacy may be perceived as valuable to some of the general public.<\/p>\n

USC professor of communication management Bobby Borg, said that although he feels \u201ccancel culture\u201d is less prevalent today within the general social landscape than it was a few years ago, there is still pressure for people to be \u201cextremely careful\u201d about what they say. This is especially true for celebrities like Bad Bunny and Kimmel, who risk deterring their fan bases.<\/p>\n

Borg explained that some people may be skeptical of Bad Bunny\u2019s intentions now that he is set to headline the Super Bowl. He points out the \u201cinconsistency\u201d of Bad Bunny\u2019s brand to claim he is concerned for his fans\u2019 safety while committing to an event that also poses a potential immigration raid risk. Bad Bunny may reveal where his true priorities lie if his decision is simply rooted in the fact that \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for him,\u201d to headline the halftime show, Borg said.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Swerdlow suggested that the artist may intend to \u201cuse his fame\u201d in a strategic way. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if [Bad Bunny] was using that platform to respond to the millions of Americans who are not happy with what they see, with ICE, with immigration policy and with the general demonization of immigrants,\u201d Swerdlow said.<\/p>\n

Swerdlow believes that it may not always be obligatory for public figures to project their political opinions, but that the responsibility concomitant with fame, \u201cat the very least,\u201d is to not \u201cenable human rights abuses.\u201d This could explain why Bad Bunny chose to diverge from performing in the sovereign jurisdictions of the U.S., the states, during his tour, but has now agreed to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show \u2014 the extent of his responsibility as a political advocate may be circumstantial.<\/p>\n

Borg cautioned that if a celebrity\u2019s brand isn\u2019t established as political, sometimes speaking out may come across as \u201cinauthentic\u201d and do more harm than good. In his expertise, he finds that the right for comedy to offend and the privilege public figures have to express their opinions freely is not absolute.<\/p>\n

Although the change in approach to state-side U.S. performances may perplex some, Swerdlow personally remains that it\u2019s \u201creally important\u201d for Bad Bunny to habitually use his platform as an artist to comment on the political sphere, as he \u201cwields an incredible amount of influence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While sharing their views about celebrities engaging in politics, two USC professors discussed the abstruse nature of Bad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[44781,32905,32628,29160,44786,11497,44787,20391,44784,44782,3589,48,52,51,47,50,49,44785,16843,11730,44783,14787,3533],"class_list":["post-77931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-2026-super-bowl","tag-aclu","tag-american-civil-liberties-union","tag-bad-bunny","tag-bobby-borg","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-celebrity-advocacy","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-deb-tirar-mas-fotos","tag-halftime-show","tag-jimmy-kimmel","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-steve-swerdlow","tag-steven-colbert","tag-super-bowl","tag-super-bowl-halftime-show","tag-tricia-mclaughlin","tag-usc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}