The NFL recently announced Bad Bunny as the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show performer. It was a surprising move considering Taylor Swift was rumored to headline the event. However, Bad Bunny is a popular artist and is currently in his prime, so it all made sense.
Moments after the announcement, some fans started questioning why such a decision was made. Notably, most of his songs are in Spanish, and the Super Bowl audience is primarily English-speaking American. So, there was clearly a mismatch.
In a recent episode of Fearless with Jason Whitlock, the media veteran shared his thoughts on why Bad Bunny was chosen for the gig. Whitlock believes that it’s an attempt from the NFL to weaponize the Super Bowl as a form of protest against the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE has been in the news lately regarding its strict crackdown on illegal immigration. Whitlock believes that the NFL’s political views don’t align with ICE’s actions, and that’s why they’re giving the Super Bowl stage to a Puerto Rican rapper to show where they stand.
“This is their rally, their pro-open-borders, pro-globalism rally that they’re having with the Super Bowl,” Whitlock said. “This is their response to MAGA and Trump and Charlie Kirk and a Christian revival and America First agenda.” (3:56)
“Hey, we control the National Football League. We control popular culture. We control the television networks that brainwash and program your kids and you,” Whitlock explained the opposition’s mindset in his opinion.
The Super Bowl is the biggest event in American sports. Every year, they generate hundred of millions of views and the Halftime Show becomes an attraction of its own.
Bad Bunny Didn’t Want to Perform in the US
Bad Bunny’s selection for the Halftime Show was confusing for another reason. The rapper has been on tour for a while and notably, he didn’t include any stops in the US. When he was asked about the same, he gave a proper explanation.
“People from the US could come here to see the show,” he said in an interview with i-D magazine. “Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world. But there was the issue that … ICE could be outside (my concert venue).”
The artist was concerned about the potential harm that could be caused by people attending his concert in the US. He made it clear that avoiding American soil wasn’t a decision born out of hatred, as he was simply trying to avoid political and legal drama.
From vying to not perform in the country to headlining the biggest event in the country, he has confused a lot of people with his decision. This has given plenty of ammunition to people like Whitlock to question whether there’s an ulterior motive behind all of this.
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