Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, or “Bad Bunny” is a music artist from Puerto Rico. He has accumulated over 100 billion streams on his music, was nominated for 16 Grammys, and 6 of those he won . He was also credited with taking Spanish rap to the global mainstream, with his 2026 tour taking him to various places around the world, from Europe to the Caribbean to Asia.

On September 28, 2025, Bad Bunny was announced to perform as the headliner for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Bad Bunny’s announcement was quite significant due to him being the first Spanish-language artist to be the headliner for the halftime show.

The announcement was met with excitement, especially hot off heels of the Grammy, where he won 6 Grammys. However, the announcement was also met with a lot of backlash, as some people stated they wouldn’t be able to understand the lyrics to Bad Bunny’s songs. Bad Bunny’s citizenship was also brought into question because the Super Bowl is America’s biggest event, and some people would prefer that the performer of the halftime show be American. These people ignore the fact that Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States and that plenty of headliners before were non-citizens, such as The Weekend and Coldplay.

Some people felt so strongly against Bad Bunny’s inclusion in the Super Bowl that they felt the need to create their own halftime show, and those people would be Turning Point USA. Turning Point USA is a right-wing nonprofit and the “All-American Halftime Show” was their response to the Super Bowl’s “Non-American” performance (which is incorrect, see previous paragraph).

The general reception to this was lukewarm; it features 3 Z-tier country artists whose songs have never left the trailer park, and Kid Rock: an artist who got so bored of white people music that he decided to appropriate Hip-Hop, and his last mainstream hit is older than the people in his political party’s dating pool, all three combined having the lyrical depth of a Home Depot shopping list. The performance itself was met with ridicule online, with people pointing out a lip-syncing problem, as well as Karoline Leavitt of the White House press secretary, saying that President Trump would prefer a Kid Rock performance over a Bad Bunny one, just for footage of Trump’s Super Bowl gathering to show he was broadcasting Bad Bunny’s performance. It’s no surprise that Bad Bunny’s halftime would be preferred compared to Turning Point USA’s concert.

Finally the day came on February 8, Bad Bunny performed for the halftime show. It was an explosive experience that celebrated Latin American culture. The main set featured a sugar cane field, which played a dominant role in Puerto Rico’s culture and economy for centuries, as well as a street accompanied by a bodega, which were important community hubs for Latin American immigrants especially for New York City. He then caps off the performance with a parade of flags and a shout out of the countries across the continent.

The reaction to the performance was overwhelmingly positive, as people of different ethnicities posted videos of their family’s reaction to the performance with joy and excitement. Additionally, people started dissecting the meaning and symbolism present throughout the entire show, such as 64 on his jersey being a tribute to his late uncle, Ricky Martin’s decision to sing entirely in Spanish, when his early career forced him to sing in English.

Bad Bunny’s performance was a much needed reprieve amidst the heated tension of immigration and ICE. As long as there are artists like Bad Bunny, people who’re proud of their culture and aren’t afraid to show it on America’s biggest stage, then the diverse culture of the United States will never fade because “We’re still here”.