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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday defended the league’s choice to have Bad Bunny headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show in February. Bad Bunny was announced by the NFL in September as the headlining performer. However, the league has since been criticized by President Donald Trump and some of his supporters for choosing the Grammy award-winning Puerto Rican artist to headline the NFL’s crown jewel event. On Wednesday, Goodell defended the NFL’s decision, which is made in collaboration with Apple Music and Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation. “It’s carefully thought through,” Goodell said. “I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching. “We’re confident it’s going to be a great show. He understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment,” he added. Earlier this month, Trump called the NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny “absolutely ridiculous.” “I don’t know who he is,” Trump told Newsmax on Oct. 6. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.” Bad Bunny previously performed at the Super Bowl as a featured artist alongside headliners Shakira and Jennifer Lopez at Super Bowl LIV in Miami in Feb. 2020. Other Super Bowl halftime headlining performers from the past decade include Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Rihanna, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, The Weeknd, Maroon 5, Travis Scott, Big Boi, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Super Bowl LX will be played at the San Francisco 49ers’ home Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.
