The Super Bowl is known for two things. One is which football team wins, and the other is the halftime show. This year’s performance featured Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican reggaeton artist. The Super Bowl occurred at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026. His performance was revolutionary for the country, though there were a lot of divided opinions on it circulating.
First, there were a lot of critiques. People were extremely upset that the whole show was performed in Spanish, knowing that the majority of the audience were English speakers. However, the show represented Puerto Rican culture so that people could actually get a feel for it. His show was in Spanish because of the heightened political issues going on, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions recently. This is to prove that in order to be American, you do not have to act a certain way, so he made a statement of inclusion at the end of his performance.
People were so upset about Bad Bunny’s performance that they went ahead and created another halftime show called the All-American Halftime Show featuring Kid Rock, an American singer. This was a short performance, but it seemed like a mockery of Bad Bunny’s show.
All of my social media, especially TikTok, had many things to say about how the halftime show was not a good show due to the Spanish language usage, while others mentioned how they loved the all-inclusive American countries and cultures in it.
The authenticity of the performance’s set was significant because it gave viewers a chance to connect with the artist’s typical scenery. The scenery of this performance included a sugar cane plant field, and nearly 400 people dressed as these bushes to create this set. The sugarcane in Puerto Rico is one source of the economy, which is why Bad Bunny had this be on set to honor and signify the culture. He also had workers doing field work to show the hard labor that is performed in the country.
There was also a little house on set called “La Casita” to represent a typical home in Puerto Rico. It contained a lot of people dancing with each other. The people included many celebrities, like rapper Cardi B, actress Jessica Alba, singers Karol G and Ricky Martin and others. This was to show how big Hispanic families can be, and through dancing, we saw how they connect with one another.
Towards the middle of the show, pop star Lady Gaga performed a salsa version of her song, “Die With A Smile.” Many people were expecting rapper Cardi B to be the star guest performing in the Super Bowl with Bad Bunny, but he surprised us with Gaga. She was so thrilled to be starring with Bad Bunny; the next day, she posted a story on Instagram giving her thanks to him. He had always admired Gaga and her music, and he listened to her album, “Chromatica,” when he was feeling down.
If you watched the show, you may remember seeing a wedding occur. To viewers’ surprise, it was an official wedding; the couple’s names are Eliesa Aparico and Thomas Walter. They originally invited Bad Bunny to their wedding, and in return, he insisted on inviting them to the halftime show. Bad Bunny signed the marriage certificate and was a witness for them. The significance of this wedding was to show the theme of love in Puerto Rican culture.
Around the end of the show, a little boy appeared on the screen, and Bad Bunny handed him a Grammy. Many people thought it was the five-year-old boy who was detained by ICE, since at the Grammys, Bad Bunny made a speech about how people had to leave their homes due to the immigration policies that impacted the little boy. However, the little boy in the halftime show was Bad Bunny’s little self. Giving his little self the Grammy signified that you can do anything. The little boy’s name is Lincoln Fox, and he is five years old.
At the end of his show, Bad Bunny had all the flags of Hispanic countries waving around the stadium. All of the dancers, celebrities and actors got together and were unified. The dancing, the singing and the way the cameras were pointed emphasized this image. Bad Bunny concluded his show by listing America as the last country and saying, “together we are American.” This was a sincere way to end the show because, throughout the political chaos going on, he wanted to bring unity through this show and in his statement.
This performance was historic for all of America’s Super Bowls. This was the first all-Spanish performance. The significance of this show is saying we are all united and there should not be a title on people based on what they look like. This performance also powerfully represents the Latino communities after all the suffering that has been going on due to the Trump Administration’s immigration policies. Overall, this was a beautiful Super Bowl halftime performance that Bad Bunny presented, and it gave many people something to think about regarding the meaning of this show.