Bad Bunny

Proudly Latin American, the star's Super Bowl turn is dividing the US, writes Barbara Ellen

- Barbara Ellen

Bad Bunny has been busy. Today the Puerto Rican musician (real name: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) will be the first male Latin performer to headline the halftime show at the NFL Super Bowl (Gloria Estefan headlined in 1992 and Jennifer Lopez, with Shakira, in 2020).

Staged at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots could attract an audience of 120 million in the US alone.

Expected to draw huge numbers of new Latin viewers, Bad Bunny's Super Bowl has evolved into a culture war flashpoint. A Quinnipiac University poll showed 74% of Democrats approving him as a headliner and 63% of Republicans disapproving.

President Trump, who won't attend, decried Bad Bunny headlining as “sowing hatred”. An alternative Super Bowl “All-American Halftime Show”, headlined by Kid Rock, has been organised by Turning Point USA, the hardline rightwing group founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Last week there was more controversy for Bad Bunny when the “King of Latin Trap”, and Spotify’s most-streamed artist in four of the past six years (outperforming Taylor Swift in 2025 with more than 20 billion streams), attended the 68th annual Grammy awards.

Winning album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos - a first for a Spanish-language composition - Bad Bunny generated global headlines by declaring: “ICE out”, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who were responsible for the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.

Referencing his fellow Puerto Ricans, Bad Bunny said: “We're not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”