In the latest round of the NFL choosing to turn football into a political activity rather than just appeasing its furious conservative fans, the organization announced that the performer who will headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show will be a cross-dressing, Trump-hating, pro-illegal immigration Puerto Rican singer who goes by the name “Bad Bunny.”
As background, the NFL was already in hot water with what few conservative fans it still has at the start of this season, as it announced that it would not be getting rid of the infamous “end racism” endzone slogans, or other social justice slogans of that sort, and it kicked off the first game of the season with a performance of the so-called “Black national anthem,” a very incendiary move.
Now, the NFL has further infuriated those fans with the extremely polarizing news that “Bad Bunny” will be the performer, as he is known for his spiteful comments directed against the Trump Administration and against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Particularly, the performer the NFL chose to headline the Super Bowl didn’t even include any tour dates in the United States because, he claimed, he was worried that his fans might be detained by ICE agents if they showed up. He said, speaking about that to the media, and using very vulgar language directed at ICE as he did so, “But there was the issue of — like, f*cking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Similarly, back in June of this year, he yelled in Spanish about ICE in a video posted to social media that showed what he claimed was a video of an ICE operation in a city in Puerto Rico, saying, “Look, those motherf*ckers are in these cars, RAV-4s. They’re here in Pontezuela.” He added, “Sons of b*tches, instead of leaving the people alone and working there.”
Predictably, the news that such a performer would be doing the Super Bowl halftime show led to an immense outpouring of conservative anger on X. Amongst those who noted the political nature of what was announced was Jack Posobiec, who wrote, ‘Barack Obama’s best friend Jay-Z runs the Super Bowl selection process through his company Roc Nation which has an exclusive contract with the NFL. This is who chooses the halftime show, the most-watched musical performance in America.”
Another who sounded off on the NFL over the decision was Benny Johnson, who wrote, “This is Bad Bunny.He was just announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. – Massive Trump hater – Anti-ICE activist – No songs in English. 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 talking about and very concerned about.’ The NFL is self-destructing year after year.”
"*" indicates required fields
Others chimed in as well. One, for example, joked that there would be “Undercover ICE agents waiting to arrest Bad Bunny during his halftime performance.” Still another said, in a post calling for a boycott of the league, “I think it’s time people boycott the @NFL. I know we love our football. But sometimes we have to take a stand.”
Watch NFL viewers boo the Black National Anthem here:
Featured image credit: By Toglenn – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88940917