Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a Puerto Rican musical artist more commonly known as “Bad Bunny,” will be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 8, 2026.
After his partnership with Calvin Klein in the spring, Ocasio became a more well-known figure in pop culture, with the ad generating over 5.9 million views on YouTube.
Bad Bunny was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and the majority of his music is sung in Spanish. Although language isn’t necessarily a barrier when it comes to enjoying his music, as many of his fans are native English speakers.
Though music in any language can be enjoyed by anyone, the controversy revolves around how Ocasio won’t be performing in English and therefore, some believe he shouldn’t be performing at the halftime show. But the concern about Bad Bunny’s performance goes deeper than just a language barrier.
@Trish_Regan, an anchor for Fox Business and CNBC, wrote on X, “Bad Bunny is VULGAR, political, and way out of bounds for a Super Bowl halftime show,” on Sept. 29.
@Chicago1Ray shared his thoughts on X about the halftime show that seemed to resonate with many: “Bad Bunny is a Trump hating anti -ICE activist who doesn’t even sing in English. He refused to tour America, bc he thought ICE might be outside one of his concerts. Hey @NFL your fans love God, Country & Football,” on Sept. 29 as well.
“He’s a good singer, good songwriter, and I think that people who don’t think that he should be in the halftime show [think that] for clearly racist reasons, whether they want to admit it or not,” junior Charlotte Prowlus said.
The sentiment that Bad Bunny shouldn’t perform at the Super Bowl seems to be widely shared by right-leaning or conservative influencers and individuals on social media.
“It’s very racist that people are being really disrespectful to him,” said junior Emelia Marquis.
Kendrick Lamar, an African American who was chosen to perform at the halftime show last year, received similar backlash to Bad Bunny: backlash that revolved around his race and political ideology, rather than the music he would be performing.
The undertones of the criticism that these artists have received are rooted in racism and unhealthy nationalism.
“In 2025, and more recent years in general, there has been so much racism in the world, especially in America…ICE is a big part of it…it’s just becoming more normalized in 2025,” Prowlus said.
ICE has frequently made light of the harsh, forceful way in which they deport illegal immigrants by joking about deportation on social media, with videos such as their “Deportation ASMR.”
“I feel like the current administration is in some way trying to generate categories of what is good and bad, and in some way, try to potentially orchestrate and manipulate culture, our society, by way of deeming someone, pop culture, or elements of our society…they are deeming to be bad,” State High social studies teacher Robert Furmanek said.
The amount of criticism that Bad Bunny has received is unwarranted, and the idea that he’s vulgar and unfit to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show reeks of racist rhetoric that has been normalized and ingrained into American culture today.
