What to Know About the Political Feud Behind Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Performance

Bad Bunny is set to make history on Sunday night as the first Latin solo artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.

His highly anticipated performance—coming off the heels of last week’s Grammy Awards, during which many celebrities, including Bad Bunny himself, took jabs at President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown—begs the question: will it strike a political chord?

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Roger Goodell, National Football League (NFL) commissioner, backed the selection of the 31-year-old artist a day after the Grammys at an annual state of the league address.

“Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated last night, one of the great artists in the world, and that’s one of the reasons we chose him,” Goodell told reporters. “But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on and that this platform is use to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents, and to be able to use this moment to do that,” he continued. “I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”

Following the NFL’s decision to headline Bad Bunny in October, Trump called the decision “absolutely ridiculous,” while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that ICE agents would be “all over” the Super Bowl. “I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country,” she said. Several other conservative voices have also denounced the NFL’s decision. 

Bad Bunny, who will be performing with the rock band Green Day, has been outspoken against the Administration’s aggressive immigration campaign around the country, which has drawn national condemnation following the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis less than three weeks apart last month.

The trailer announcing Bad Bunny’s performance, dropped by Apple Music, is set to his hit song “BAILE INoLVIDABLE,” and features the artist dancing with people from all different races and cultures. “The world will dance,” the trailer concludes.

At a press conference on Thursday, Bad Bunny said: “I really want people to have fun. It’s gonna be a huge party. I want to bring what people can always expect from me, and a lot of my culture.”  

Here’s what to know about Bad Bunny’s history of political opposition to Trump, and what his opponents have been saying about his upcoming performance. 

Bad Bunny’s anti-Trump history 

Bad Bunny has become a symbol of opposition to the Trump Administration, and his political comments date back to the President’s first presidential term. 

Exactly a week ahead of his headline show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the Puerto Rican musician used the Grammy’s stage to speak out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and speak up for immigrants. Accepting the award for Best Música Urbana Album, he said, “before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out!” drawing cheers from a crowd filled with other celebrities who made similar comments that night, including pop artists Billie Eilish and Olivia Dean.

“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” he continued. “I know it’s tough to know not to hate on these days, and I was thinking, sometimes we get contaminados [contaminated]—I don’t know how to say that in English. The hate gets more powerful with more hate.”

Later that night, he dedicated his award for album of the year, which he delivered mostly in Spanish, to “all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country to follow their dreams.”

Bad Bunny chose not to include any U.S. locations for his latest world tour, which spanned from Latin America, to Australia, Europe, and Japan, citing ICE’s deportations in the U.S. 

“People from the U.S. could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world,” he told i-D magazine in September. “ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.” 

Before his tour, Bunny held a residency in his home country of Puerto Rico for about two months, bringing thousands of fans from around the world to the Caribbean island. 

In addition to acceptance speeches and world tours, Bunny has used his music to support immigrants in what has been interpreted as a jab to the Administration. In the music video to his song, “NUEVAYoL,” which was released on the Fourth of July, a Puerto Rican flag hangs from the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York. 

In the next scene, a group of men listen to a radio broadcasting what sounds like the President’s voice, who says, “I made a mistake. I want to apologize to the immigrants in America…I want to say that this country is nothing without the immigrants. This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans.”

In June of last year, Bunny called out ICE officers in Puerto Rico in an Instagram story that features officers escorting people into unmarked vehicles in Avenida Pontezuela in Carolina. 

“Those motherf-ers are in these cars, RAV-4s,” Bad Bunny said in the video, speaking in Spanish over the footage. “They’re here in Pontezuela. Sons of b-tches, instead of letting the people alone and working.”

In 2024, Bunny endorsed presidential candidate Kamala Harris in her race against Trump. Back in 2020, he showed his support for President Joe Biden during his bid for the presidency. A Biden campaign ad featured Bunny’s song, “Pero Ya No,” tailored for Puerto Rican and Mexican voters in key swing states. 

During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Bunny gave a statement to TIME in the form of a song, in which he wrote, “F–K DONALD TRUMP! PRESIDENTE DEL RACISMO.” 

Conservative reactions

Other conservative voices and groups have denounced Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show performance, including the far-right think-tank Turning Point USA, founded by the late political commentator Charlie Kirk, which is hosting a counterprogramming show called the “All American Halftime Show.” The performance will feature performances by artists such as Kid Rock and Brantley Gilbert, among others. 

Trump’s former campaign manager and a current adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, Corey Lewandowski, said that ICE agents could be at the Super Bowl this weekend.

“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” Lewandowski said on the conservative YouTuber Benny Johnson’s podcast. 

A petition to replace Bad Bunny with country artist George Strait has gotten over 120,000 signatures. “The Super Bowl halftime show should unite our country, honor American culture, and remain family-friendly, not be turned into a political stunt,” the petition reads. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson also weighed in on the NFL’s selection, calling it a “terrible decision” and suggested an artist with a “broader audience.” Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist on the streaming platform Spotify for the fourth year in 2025. 

Trump has declared he will be skipping the Super Bowl, saying it’s “too far away.”

In reference to Bunny and Green Day, who have also spoken out against the President, Trump said, “I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred.”