Bad Bunny bit back over the weekend at critics unhappy that he’s set to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.
The Puerto Rican rapper, who rose to fame for hit songs like Soy Peor and his feature on Cardi B’s I Like It, was announced as the halftime show host last week. Bad Bunny will be making history by performing entirely in Spanish — a landmark moment for Latino culture that’s prompted backlash from some conservative figures.
“I think everybody is happy about it — even Fox News,” the music superstar joked in his opening monologue as host of the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, on being named headliner of the halftime show.
He segued into a few sentences in Spanish, expressing Latino pride and joy over the achievement, after which he noted: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!”
The rapper has been critical of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in the past. In June, he posted an Instagram video criticizing federal agents in Puerto Rico for their presence on the island, which is an unincorporated U.S. territory. He’s also had pro-immigrant messages in some of his songs, and the music video for one of them mimics the U.S. president’s voice to deliver a pro-immigrant speech.
During his most recent world tour, which ended a few weeks ago, Bad Bunny skipped over the U.S. in part because he was concerned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials could target immigrants for deportation outside his shows.
Asked Friday by conservative podcaster Benny Johnson whether ICE officials would be conducting enforcement at the Super Bowl, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they would be “all over that place,” because DHS “is responsible for keeping it safe.”
“I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country,” Noem said on the podcast.
She didn’t specify whether the officials would be conducting immigration enforcement or other law enforcement duties typical of the event.
This is Bad Bunny.<br><br>He was just announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.<br><br>- Massive Trump hater<br>- Anti-ICE activist<br>- No songs in English<br><br>He even canceled his entire U.S. tour for this reason: “F***ing ICE could be outside my concert. And it’s something that we were… <a href=”https://t.co/11KvuSWnEH”>pic.twitter.com/11KvuSWnEH</a>
—@bennyjohnson
Johnson was one of the conservative commentators who criticized the selection of Bad Bunny as Super Bowl performer, calling the choice “idiotic” and saying in a post on X that by hiring a “massive Trump hater” to perform, the NFL was “self-destructing year after year.”
“This is not a pick designed to unite football fans or let people just enjoy the show. It was a pick designed to divide fans and no doubt Bad Bunny will find some way to push a woke message,” fellow conservative activist Robby Starbuck said in a post.
Some even called Bad Bunny “demonic,” while others suggested that rock band Creed or noted Trump supporter Kid Rock would have been better choices to perform at the event.
Noem’s comments in particular inspired a joke in SNL‘s Weekend Update segment.
“A Trump adviser said ICE agents will attend the Super Bowl after Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime performer,” noted co-host Michael Che. “You know, to catch all those farm workers who can afford Super Bowl tickets.”
