If you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was the moment at the end when he said “God bless America” in English — then proceeded to name all of the countries in the Western Hemisphere in geographical order from south to north.
Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event. There was rapturous anticipation from his millions of fans worldwide, and there was boycotting and indignation from right-wing figures who objected to hearing Spanish during the Super Bowl or erroneously claimed that Puerto Ricans are not Americans.
The conservative youth juggernaut Turning Point USA streamed its own alternative concert from a soundstage featuring Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert and two other mid-tier country artists, its hosts slamming Bad Bunny for “politically charged statements” and recent Super Bowl guests for ostensibly risqué acts.
The superstar himself downplayed concerns, saying at an Apple press event on Tuesday that his performance would be “a huge party.”
“They don’t even have to learn Spanish,” he told radio hosts Ebro Darden and Zane Lowe from the stage. “It is better if they learn to dance.”
At the Grammys last week, Bad Bunny started his acceptance speech by saying “ICE out,” fueling speculation that his halftime show would be an overt statement against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No such statement materialized, though.
A smattering of fans speculated online that the little boy to whom Bad Bunny handed his Grammy in one of the spectacle’s short, vivid tableaux of Latino life was Liam Conejo Ramos — a 5-year-old who was detained by ICE in Minneapolis. But upon closer inspection, the boy on-screen bore little resemblance to Ramos.
The show did nod to historic injustices in Puerto Rico. The performance opened with a scene of workers harvesting sugar cane. Bad Bunny’s jersey bore the number “64,” an apparent reference to the number of deaths on the island after Hurricane Maria in 2017 (or maybe the year his mother, Lysaurie Ocasio, was born). During one segment, Bad Bunny climbed the set of a power line alongside dancers dressed as repair workers, alluding to the alleged corruption and setbacks that plagued post-disaster infrastructure repairs.
But in general, the show had the kind of wholesome, traditional family values that would have fit right in with some of the more sentimental commercials that appeared during the game. There was a proposal, a (real!) wedding, a party. The sets were Technicolor, with the camera occasionally swooping above dancers in Busby Berkeley-style formations. Enhancing the cinematic effect was a formidable cast taking on the roles of barbers, boxers, nail technicians, pushcart operators and old timers playing dominos. It felt as if “Sesame Street” had worked up a reggaeton remix of “People in Your Neighborhood” or Richard Scarry’s “Busy Town” had made room for dancers ready to get busy.
But not that busy. This remained a PG-rated affair with about as much dirtiness to the dancing as there was in the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.” The backup dancers were wild and exuberant but well short of lurid. Same for Bad Bunny, who offered trademark grabs of his crotch while singing about an anaconda and inspired pelvic gyrations. This may be the first time we’ve seen so-called “dwerking” on national television, but it was nothing compared with the flipping and flopping we’ve seen from Bad Bunny’s live shows on TikTok.
And yes, the camera caught two men grinding from the waist up at one point, but Bad Bunny didn’t indulge his own penchant for gender play. You can’t get much more traditionally masculine than a football jersey and a men’s suit, can you?
As for cameos, we got Ricky Martin singing by a banana tree, Lady Gaga singing “Die With a Smile” sans Bruno Mars, Pedro Pascal grooving with Jessica Alba and Cardi B, and the proprietor of the beloved Brooklyn social club Toñita’s doing a shot with Bad Bunny. Lovely, sunny stuff, performed on a lovely, sunny California evening.
Surprising no one, President Donald Trump condemned the performance on Truth Social. No doubt commentators such as Megyn Kelly — who before the game suggested that ICE be sent to Bad Bunny’s home and implied without evidence that there was coordination between the Grammys and the NFL — will find something to be upset about.
But if haters were hungry for provocation, Bad Bunny didn’t give them much to sink their teeth into. For viewers who don’t understand Spanish — like this reporter — Bad Bunny made his message abundantly clear at the end of the show, marching in front of a Jumbotron message of “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE” before spiking a football bearing the phrase “TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA.”
You can’t get much more direct than that. But in the America we live in today, misunderstanding — intentional or otherwise — is never a surprise.
