Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, mostly known by his stage name “Bad Bunny,” has been chosen to headline the Apple Music 2026 Super Bowl Halftime show. This has sparked many conversations among the public recently, causing arguments and disagreements.
Known for popular hits like “Monaco”, “Tití me preguntó” and his feature on “I like it” with Cardi B. Not only is he a hit artist, he also used to be a professional wrestler and has won the WWE 24/7 Championship.
Bad Bunny has even worked in Hollywood, notably “Bullet Train” (2022), “Cassandro” (2023) and “Caught Stealing” (2025), as well as his most recent role in “Happy Gilmore 2” (2025).
So, why was Bad Bunny chosen to headline the 2026 Super Bowl? To start, he is very popular among the younger generation, has over 80 million monthly global listeners on Spotify, and has made many appearances on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
On Oct. 4, 2025, Bad Bunny was featured on SNL and told fans that he was going to be playing the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime show. “I’m very happy, and I think everyone is happy about it, even Fox News,” said Bad Bunny. The show then played a montage of Fox News hosts whose words had been spliced together to say, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician, and he should be the next president.”
He then continued his announcement in Spanish, which translated to, “Especially all the Latinos and Latinas across the world, and here, in the United States, all those who have worked to open doors. It’s more than an achievement for myself, it’s an achievement for all of us,” said Bad Bunny. He concluded his message in English saying, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
Since his announcement on SNL, there has been a large amount of public backlash in response to Bad Bunny playing at the halftime show. “Turning Point USA”, an organization that advocates for conservative politics on school campuses, founded by Charlie Kirk, has announced that they will be putting on an alternative “All-American Halftime Show”.
The phrase “All-American Halftime Show” is directed at the fact that the majority of Bad Bunny’s music is in Spanish. However, Bad Bunny was born and raised in Puerto Rico, a United States territory, making the statement inaccurate.
In an interview with i-D magazine, Bad Bunny stated that he chose not to include any concert dates on his world tour in the 50 states of the U.S., due to the fear that “ICE could be outside my concert”. United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, however, said that ICE will be “all over” the Super Bowl.
There has also been overwhelming support for the artist. Jennifer Lopez, who headlined the 2020 Halftime Show, said, “music and art transcend language. It doesn’t matter. He’s done that probably more than anybody of any generation — The Super Bowl is great because it introduces you to people that don’t know you. I’m sure there was people that didn’t know me or Shakira or weren’t fans of ours.” Shakira, who performed alongside Lopez, wrote on her Instagram story, “Welcome back to the Super Bowl stage! Aquí va mi gente latina!!”.
During an interview with the ESPN LA 710 AM show on Oct. 1, LeBron James shared his support for Bad Bunny. “I’m super happy for Bad Bunny that he’s able to represent the Super Bowl in San Francisco,” said James. “That’s gonna be super dope, and hopefully, I could be there, man, to support him. He’s a great friend of mine.”
Despite the controversy, Bad Bunny is still set to perform at the 2026 Halftime Show. Make sure to watch the Super Bowl and Bad Bunny’s halftime performance on Feb. 8.
