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When the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced that Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in February, many conservatives online were infuriated. And while the immediate outrage, for many, felt considerably predictable, experts in political science, pop culture and music are calling out several of the glaring issues with the backlash, including criticism that the artist’s songs are performed primarily in Spanish.
Several right-wing accounts on X, formerly Twitter, were furious that Bad Bunny has been loudly critical of President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies, calling his selection as the halftime headliner a so-called “political” choice.
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Last year, the Puerto Rican global superstar had signaled his support for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. He took a shot at Trump and his administration’s immigration policies in his music video for “NUEVAYoL,” which debuted in July. He had also previously said he avoided planning concert stops in mainland U.S. out of fear that his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has since celebrated being selected to headline the halftime show at the big game on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” he said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”
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The right-wing backlash was swift. And among the criticisms about Bad Bunny’s history of social commentary, was one alarming, recurring concern: Bad Bunny’s songs are primarily in Spanish with Puerto Rican slang.
“Most of his songs aren’t even in English. This is not a pick designed to unite football fans or let people just enjoy the show,” conservative political commentator Robby Starbuck wrote on X. “It was a pick designed to divide fans and no doubt Bad Bunny will find some way to push a woke message.”
Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson similarly listed “no songs in English” as a reason he believes Bad Bunny shouldn’t have been tapped to headline the halftime show. And many others online shared similar sentiments.
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David Schmid, associate professor of English at the University at Buffalo whose expertise includes popular culture and cultural studies, said that online criticisms about Bad Bunny performing songs in Spanish at the halftime show is “entirely predictable.”
“This is an entirely predictable response from the MAGAverse,” he told HuffPost. “Although some would no doubt like to pretend that the U.S. is 100% Anglo and 100% English-speaking, this has never been the case at any point of this country’s history.”
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Bad Bunny is a Grammy-winning, record-breaking global superstar. He was named Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally for three consecutive years.
Schmid emphasized Bad Bunny’s stardom, pointing out that “a big part of the reason that Bad Bunny is a global superstar is precisely because he sings in Spanish,” he said.
Jaime Dominguez, a political scientist and associate professor of Instruction at Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, explained to HuffPost why the criticism about Bad Bunny’s Spanish misses the mark.
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“The Spanish language is as American as apple pie and more so in particular states that have a large concentration of Latinos,” he said.
Andy Gershon, a professor and music industry expert at Syracuse University College of Visual & Performing Arts, emphasized that when it comes to music, you don’t have to understand lyrics to appreciate and understand music, melodies and harmonies.
“Besides, does anyone really know the lyrics to ‘Louie, Louie?’” he added, referencing the hit song originally recorded by Richard Berry in the 1950s.
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Criticisms that Bad Bunny is a “political” choice misses the mark — music and politics have always been intertwined.
Dominguez said that as it relates to the backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, he’s “not surprised at the public response that the current polarization has entered the spectrum of professional sports.”
“It always has,” he said, before he referenced the wide outrage over Colin Kaepernick, who led a wave of peaceful protests by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem at NFL games in 2016 to protest racial injustice.
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“This is no different. The only difference is that [Bad Bunny] has been overtly critical of the militarization of U.S. cities and the Trump administration,” Dominguez continued. “Immigrants are under attack, and it’s a community he has a special affinity toward as a Puerto Rican and U.S. citizen. He is using his political agency and platform that he has as an international mega musician.”
Dominguez emphasized that Bad Bunny, a U.S. citizen, has “every right to petition his government and to be critical of its actions, particularly in immigration matters.”
“As an artist, you are a reflection of civil society and the current political climate,” he added. “Artists have always been political. This will never change. It happens on both sides of the political aisle.”
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Schmid said that the more neutral and correct meaning of the word “political” means of “relating to the government or the public affairs of a country.”
“It should go without saying that music, just like any aspect of our culture, is unavoidably political,” he said.
Schmid said that musicians and performances can’t avoid being political — and to demand that artists avoid politics and social issues is “nonsense.”
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“Moreover, it’s clear that one reason for Bad Bunny’s massive popularity is the fact that he does address our turbulent political times in his music,” he said.
Gershon said that while “music and art have generally always been political,” he believes that music in the mainstream has been “less political” in recent years compared to other times in history.
“But, the NFL wants credible artists that resonate with specific demographics and at times, these artists are political in nature,” he said. “You could say Kendrick Lamar was political last year, and we seemed to have survived his performance.”
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At the end of the day, experts agree that the selection of Bad Bunny for the halftime show, which is co-executive produced by Jay Z’s Roc Nation, is good for the NFL.
“If the NFL didn’t want to have an artist that is credible and relevant, appealing to the markets the league wants to grow in, they wouldn’t have chosen him,” Gershon said. “There are plenty of artists the NFL can choose from, and he checks a lot of the boxes that are important to the NFL for marketing purposes on an international scale.”
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“For the NFL, it’s all about the marketing and advertising that brings in lots of cash. And, he will do that as a bilingual artist,” Dominguez said. “For the NFL, it’s not about the Spanish language, it’s about the color green that [Bad Bunny] will bring in. Money talks. Always has, always will.”