On Feb. 8th, the NFL hosted its 60th Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, with superstar Bad Bunny as the halftime performer. Benito “Bad Bunny” Antonio Martínez Ocasio is a Puerto Rican sensation with not one, but three Recording Academy wins at the 2026 Grammy Awards show for Best Album, Global Music Performance, and Música Urbana Album. In accepting his awards, he sparked Hollywood controversy by speaking on politics to stand with immigrants amid the Trump administration’s immigration policy—mass detainments by ICE.
The pick for the Super Bowl halftime show immediately received scrutiny from U.S conservatives following the NFL and Jay-Z’s ROC Nation’s announcement in September of 2025. Of the disapproving was United States President Donald Trump, who described Bad Bunny’s halftime performance as “an affront to the Greatness of America.” Other U.S conservatives, such as Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem, also frontlined opposition toward the performance with threats of ICE in attendance at the game.
Echoing the messages from his speech on “love is more powerful than hate,” Bad Bunny performed a 12-part mash-up of his most popular songs on stage Super Bowl night. His entire performance was rich with a blend of Caribbean influences, Puerto Rican customs, and Latino pride. Towards the end of his 13-minute production, Bad Bunny rang out his performance with a set covered in nations’ flags on a very American stage.
Amongst the countries on display, Bad Bunny named: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Canada, the U.S, and Puerto Rico. With a concluding statement, “God Bless America,” he included Caribbean, South, Central, and North American Countries under one flag. His message was an outstanding declaration against ICE that redefines what it means to be “American.” Behind him, a sign with the same quote from his speech at the Grammys, and as a last message, followed by a round of applause, he vocalized, “Seguimos Aquí (We are Still Here).”
In a country with ongoing efforts to remove so many American people, Bad Bunny’s Halftime performance was an empowering message to all U.S immigrants and a bold statement to conservatives; as immigrants, we still have jobs, we still have families, we are still American. Filled with symbolism hidden in scenes of a sugar cane field, a wedding, a dominoes game, and a liquor store, rooted in cornerstone icons as the backbone of the community, the halftime show was orchestrated to paint the Caribbean/Latino lifestyle, a familiar immigrant story for so many. The global experience Bad Bunny shared on stage was a testament to love and a wake-up call against the hate that so many Americans have fallen victim to. While Latin culture isn’t rooted in mainstream American standards, it is not alien.
Bad Bunny incorporated his words from his time at the Recording Academy into song and dance in the name of unity. In his speech at the awards show, he directly addressed ICE and the national picture racist America has continued to paint immigrants to be: “Before I thank God, I’m going to say ICE out. We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens—we’re humans.” His intention behind the NFL’s 60th Super Bowl Halftime Show unearthed an uproar on the criminal injustices committed by ICE while modeling peaceful protest in honor of diversity.