On Feb. 8, the NFL hosted Super Bowl 60. This year’s halftime show featured Bad Bunny as the headline performer in San Francisco. With just 13 minutes of live television during the NFL’s most-anticipated game of the season, Bad Bunny has made history for the Latino community.
Benito Antonia Martinez Ocasio, also known as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer who has managed to make his way up in the music industry as one of the most famous Latino artists of this generation. His combination of genres, including Latin trap, reggaeton and salsa on his recent album, has helped him showcase his pride to Puerto Rico and the Latin community.
When the NFL announced Bad Bunny as the performer for the 60th Super Bowl Halftime show in late September 2025, a rise of both negative and positive reactions surfaced throughout social media.
Criticism of Bad Bunny performing was pivoting from conservative criticism and political opposition due to his stance against President Donald Trump, U.S. immigration policy and his songs being performed in Spanish.
Despite the criticism, the NFL stood with their decision; Bad Bunny’s performance was a success as it was the most viewed halftime show in history, with 135 million views, surpassing Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 performance.
During the 13-minute performance, he paid a nod to the Latinx community through various dedications and symbolizations. In the opening, he included an authentic Puerto Rican setting by having people dressed as sugar cane stalks and grass, replicating the natural scenery in Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny not only represented bomba and plena music by having traditional Puerto Rican instruments, but he also showcased the influence of Taino, African and Spanish influences.
The different sceneries he included allowed him to pay homage to the entire Latinx community, not just Puerto Rico. His famous set, “La casita,” has been seen as a pivotal symbol during his Puerto Rico residency shows, which he included in the halftime show.
This served as a representation of a traditional Puerto Rican house party, “party de marquesina,” where family and neighbors come together as a community to enjoy the social life and celebrations.
During his performance of his song “BaILE INoLVIDABLE,” which was performed shortly after a guest performance by Lady Gaga, a legal wedding took place on the field as an invitation by Bad Bunny himself. He set a scene of a traditional Latin wedding that the current Latinx generation was able to relate to, including the classic little boy who fell asleep on three chairs in the middle of the party.
Bringing real-life businesses to the biggest sports show of the year was not in the bingo cards of what to expect for the show. “Villa’s Tacos,” a Mexican-American business and Tonita Cay, owner of “Tonitas,” which is one of the few last surviving Puerto Rican social clubs, were included to show the different elements that make up a Puerto Rican neighborhood.
Though the performance included colorful representations of Latin heritage and culture, Bad Bunny called out the power crisis in Puerto Rico during “El Apagon,” or The Blackout. The exploding power poles, which he climbed without a harness, symbolized the constant blackouts and failing power grids due to the government corruption and gentrification that followed Hurricane Maria.
Lastly, his ending showcased all the flags that make up the Americas and named every single American country, reminding viewers that America is larger than just the U.S. During this moment, he said “God bless America” in English, which was the only time during the entire show he spoke in English. He showed an engraved football that read “Together we are America” before spiking it along with his closing message, “The only thing stronger than hate is love.”
After his performance, there was a mix of both negative and positive feedback on social media. Celebrities like Rosalía took to Instagram to congratulate him, calling him “a legend.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly stating, “THANK YOU, BAD BUNNY.”
However, Trump took it upon himself to denounce Bad Bunny and complained “nobody understands a word this guy is saying.” Trump labeled the performance as “one of the worst, EVER!” He argued that it wasn’t a suitable performance for the “most American moment on TV.”
There was an alternative half-time show hosted by conservative group Turning Point USA, featuring Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett, naming it “The All-American Halftime Show.”
The show was alleged to be prerecorded with a paid audience. The stream of this show received a small fraction of 4% to 5% of the viewing number compared to the halftime show.
