‘it’s Gonna Be A Huge Party’: Bad Bunny Set For Super Bowl Stage As Trump Skips Event

Just a week aft receiving nan Grammy grant for Album of nan Year, nan Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny will return connected nan US’s astir watched performance of nan twelvemonth erstwhile he performs astatine nan Super Bowl this Sunday.

The creator calved Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio took location nan euphony academy’s apical grant for 2025’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a politically minded grounds infused pinch Puerto Rican euphony and culture. The medium became nan first Spanish-language activity to return location nan prize, beating retired title from Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

While making his acceptance reside for champion música urbana performance, Bad Bunny echoed nan anti-ICE sentiment that animated galore Grammys speeches. “ICE out,” he said. “We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.” He added, much broadly: “The only point that is much powerful than dislike is love.”

Eyes connected some sides of nan aisle will beryllium watching to spot if his Sunday capacity will incorporate a much pointed statement.

In a Thursday property convention up of nan show Bad Bunny said: “I really want group to person fun. It’s gonna beryllium a immense party. I want to bring what group tin ever expect from me, and a batch of my culture..”

The announcement of his header slot was greeted pinch some jubilation and hostility. While galore artists and activists welcomed his booking, nan Department of Homeland Security advisor Corey Lewandowski said: “It’s truthful shameful that they’ve decided to prime personification who conscionable seems to dislike America truthful overmuch to correspond them astatine nan half-time game.”

The homeland information secretary, Kristi Noem, said that ICE would beryllium “all over” nan Super Bowl.

Bad Bunny hosting Saturday Night Live. Photograph: Will Heath/AP

Bad Bunny collapsed records past twelvemonth pinch a landmark 30-night performance residency successful San Juan, but decided against bringing nan show to nan US retired of fearfulness for his fans’ safety. “There was nan rumor of – fucking ICE could beryllium extracurricular [my concert],” he told i-D. “It’s thing that we were talking astir and very concerned about.”

He responded to critics while hosting Saturday Night Live successful October, pursuing a Spanish-language speech conception pinch a winking kicker successful English: “If you didn’t understand what I conscionable said, you person 4 months to learn.”

Since then, there’s been an uptick successful societal media posts astir learning Spanish and Puerto Rican slang, pinch Duolingo launching a “Bad Bunny 101” people past period to springiness newcomers a sensation of nan language.

Donald Trump will not beryllium attending this year’s Super Bowl aft stating successful an interview that nan venue successful Santa Clara, California, is “too acold away”.

In respect to Bad Bunny and Green Day, who will execute earlier kick-off, nan US president said: “I’m anti-them. I deliberation it’s a unspeakable choice. All it does is sow hatred.”

The NFL is opinionated by nan booking. When asked astir Bad Bunny’s anti-ICE comments astatine nan Grammys, commissioner Roger Goodell called him “one of nan top artists successful nan world. It’s 1 of nan reasons we chose him … He understood nan level he was on.”

Sunday’s NFL crippled will people nan 2nd clip that Bad Bunny has appeared connected nan Super Bowl stage, pursuing a 2020 impermanent quality during Shakira and Jennifer Lopez’s 2020 co-headline slot.

“I really don’t want to springiness immoderate spoilers,” Bad Bunny said astatine nan property conference. “It’s gonna beryllium nosy and beryllium easy, and group only person to interest astir dancing.”

As nan most-watched US tv arena of nan year, Super Bowl advertisement rates person risen to $10m for a 30-second spot, pinch galore brands presenting their biggest campaigns of nan year.

A-listers group to look successful commercials this twelvemonth see Sabrina Carpenter, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Melissa McCarthy, Lady Gaga and Emma Stone, while immoderate brands are targeting gen Z pinch ads starring MrBeast, Addison Rae and Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg.

This twelvemonth will besides people nan Super Bowl’s first chiefly AI-generated advertisement courtesy of nan vodka marque Svedka, pinch a spot that features a robot mates dancing pinch quality partygoers. Meanwhile, Anthropic and its AI adjunct Claude are taking purpose astatine Open AI’s ChatGPT pinch an advertisement promising that “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” On Twitter/X, nan OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, called nan ads a “clearly dishonest portrayal”.