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Bad Bunny performs in the Apple Music Halftime Show during the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle\u00a0Seahawks and the New England Patriots, at Levi’s Stadium on February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kevin Sabitus\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The backlash to\u00a0Bad Bunny\u2019s Super Bowl LX halftime show<\/a> says as much about the country as it does about the performance itself.<\/p>\n Wired received information on 2,155 complaints<\/a> through a Freedom of Information Act request to the FCC, the federal agency that regulates television. The data shows that Texas led the nation in objections to the February halftime performance, followed by Florida and California. The grievances were familiar: too much Spanish, too much sexuality, too much queerness, too much Puerto Rico on one of the most\u00a0American stages in television.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The NFL spent years trying to make the halftime show feel globally relevant. Then it booked the world\u2019s biggest Spanish-language artist and discovered exactly how many viewers still expect the Super Bowl to speak only one language.<\/p>\n “Such trash should not appear during prime time hours when little eyes and ears are viewing,” one\u00a0viewer wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump amplified the outrage in real time, posting on Truth Social that \u201cnobody understands a word this guy is saying\u201d and calling the performance inappropriate for children. Trump had criticized the NFL\u2019s decision to book Bad Bunny months before kickoff, framing the halftime show as evidence of a country drifting away from a cultural center.<\/p>\n But the panic surrounding the performance often ignored what was actually happening onstage.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bad Bunny \u2014 born\u00a0Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio in Puerto Rico \u2014 did not deliver an overtly political set. He delivered something more specific: a distinctly Puerto Rican one.<\/p>\n What did Bad Bunny say at the Super Bowl?<\/p>\n Bad Bunny performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl\u00a0LX Halftime Show at Levi’s Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.<\/p>\n Kevin Mazur\/Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Roc<\/p>\n For 12 minutes, the halftime show transformed Levi\u2019s Stadium into a compressed version of the island itself.\u00a0Piraguas, public housing communities, slang, salsa samples and references to blackouts caused by Puerto Rico\u2019s fragile electrical grid all flashed across the screen. Older Puerto Rican men played dominoes under stadium lights usually reserved for military flyovers and beer commercials.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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