Puerto Rican music celebrity Bad Bunny clapped again at right-wing critics of his upcoming Super Bowl halftime present in a bilingual monologue on the season opener of “Saturday Night Live.”
The enormously widespread artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — whose music combines reggaeton, rap, Latin lure and pop — simply accomplished a blockbuster residency on his dwelling island, a U.S. territory within the Caribbean.
Bad Bunny had mentioned his world tour wouldn’t function reveals on the U.S. mainland as he feared his followers would fall sufferer to raids by immigration brokers as a part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown, earlier than being introduced because the Super Bowl’s headliner.
Conservative critics instantly complained that the Super Bowl shouldn’t function an artist who sings primarily in Spanish and didn’t need to carry out within the continental United States, criticizing the NFL for being too woke.
Bad Bunny did not draw back from the subject on the primary episode of season 51 of “Saturday Night Live,” America’s landmark comedy sketch present.
“You might not know this, but I’m doing the Super Bowl halftime show,” he mentioned to cheers from the viewers at NBC studios in New York.
“I’m very happy and I think everyone is happy about it, even Fox News,” he mentioned, main right into a montage of one-word clips from community personalities and Republican politicians saying: “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.”
“I’m very excited to be doing the Super Bowl and I know that the people all around the world who love my music are also happy…” he mentioned, altering to Spanish to clarify how his look was a win for all Latinos within the United States.
“Our footprints and our contribution in this country — no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it,” he added in Spanish.
He then switched again to English to conclude: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
The Super Bowl is ready for February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California.
The National Football League in 2019 entered right into a multi-year partnership with leisure firm Roc Nation, based by rap legend Jay-Z, to spice up in-game displays.
Under the deal, Roc Nation advises the NFL on the choice of artists for the halftime present.
Since then, the headliners have included Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, The Weeknd, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Usher and Kendrick Lamar.
© 2025 AFP