Supporters of President Donald Trump, together with a senior White House official, have lashed out after Latin megastar Bad Bunny was named because the headliner for subsequent 12 months’s Super Bowl halftime present.
The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rapper had already sparked right-wing ire after saying he would skip the United States throughout his upcoming world tour resulting from fears of immigration raids at his concert events.
But Trump’s Make America Great Again motion was doubly infuriated by the naming on Sunday of an artist who primarily sings in Spanish because the star performer for the NFL’s flagship occasion in February.
“Is the @NFL incapable of reading the room?” Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s Senior Director for Counter Terrorism, posted on X late Monday after the announcement.
Gorka’s remark accompanied a put up by a conservative podcaster calling Bad Bunny “a rapper with a catalog of vulgar lyrics in Spanish and English” — together with one aimed toward Trump.
Former racing driver turned right-wing commentator Danica Patrick stated individually on X: “No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest rated television events of the year.”
Sage Steele, a former host on sports activities community ESPN who appeared within the White House’s “new media” seat at a briefing earlier this 12 months, referred to as Bad Bunny “DEMONIC” and added: “NFL…I just don’t get it.”
The artist himself stated in a press release launched by the NFL that his naming as Super Bowl halftime act was “for my people, my culture, and our history.”
Puerto Rico, the place Bad Bunny hails from, is a U.S. territory within the Caribbean. In June, Bad Bunny posted video footage on his social media channels from an ICE raid that happened on his dwelling island.
Super Bowl halftime reveals have historically attracted the largest names within the music business, together with the likes of Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Paul McCartney.
More current performers have included this previous 12 months’s headliner Kendrick Lamar, the rapper who lower out profanity however nonetheless carried out a viral diss observe of his rival Drake.
© 2025 AFP