Photo Credit: Bad Bunny (Instagram)
The NFL’s announcement that Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show has quickly sparked another culture battle. It’s also setting up a potentially major confrontation with ICE agents.
Just moments after Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime headliner for Super Bowl LX, conservative politicians and commentators took to social media to express their outrage. Among them is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who called for country star Jason Aldean to “bring some patriotism” to the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly took to her radio show to complain about the NFL’s decision. She compared Bad Bunny to Diddy and speculated that the 31-year-old might be transgender because he occasionally performs in dresses. Kelly called the selection a “middle finger to all of MAGA,” and said the Puerto Rican native “hates the United States.”
Conservative commentator Britt Mayer claimed the Super Bowl announcement is an effort to “shove woke ideology down America’s throat,” calling Bad Bunny’s music “woke puke.” Kelly and Mayer further referred to the artist as “that thing” over a clip in which he appears in drag. They also said it is “unclear” if he is transgender.
“If that shows up at the Super Bowl, literally the fans are going to get up and walk out,” said Kelly.
But that blowback was followed by a more serious concern.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, recently decided not to tour in the mainland United States, expressing concerns that the ongoing mass deportations could seriously impact his crew. “There was the issue of, like, f—ing ICE could be outside [my concerts],” he said. “It’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Now, it looks like Bad Bunny’s fears related to ICE are likely to become realized.
Earlier this week, Department of Homeland Security special advisor and former Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, indicated that ICE agents would indeed be at the Super Bowl during Bad Bunny’s performance. Speaking on Benny Johnson’s podcast, “The Benny Show,” Lewandowski strongly suggested an ICE presence.
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski stated. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you. Know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be.”
“If there are illegal aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else. … We’re going to do enforcement everywhere. We are going to make Americans safe. That is a directive from the president. If you’re in this country illegally, go home.”
The multi-platinum Bad Bunny has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his administration—especially after the president’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. That has almost guaranteed a sharply-divided audience ahead of the big game.
But despite the backlash—and even conservatives calling for people to reach out to the NFL to “demand some answers”—it seems unlikely that the NFL, Apple, or Roc Nation will reverse their decision. Roc Nation, notably, is Jay-Z’s entertainment company, which is partnered with the NFL to select the halftime performers, and had a hand in selecting hip-hop superstar Kendrick Lamar last year.
“We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage,” said Jay-Z of Bad Bunny.
Whether the specter of a confrontation with ICE immigration officials changes that stance remains unclear. For now, Bad Bunny is gearing up for the game.
“It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown,” wrote Bad Bunny in a statement about his selection by the NFL, adding that it is for “my people, my culture, and our history.”
Bad Bunny recently completed his 30-show residency in Puerto Rico, which brought in a record-breaking amount of revenue for the U.S. territory’s local economy.
