The Super Bowl halftime show next Sunday, February 8, will star Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who will sing in Spanish, after the MAGA movement demanded the cancellation of his presentation for months. President Donald Trump called the invitation to the artist, who has openly spoken out against the president's harsh anti-immigration policy, "absolutely ridiculous." However, 'El Conejo Malo' called for unity and celebration before the event.

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Party or politics? Cultural battle or just another show? All eyes are on the Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday, February 8, which comes amidst high polarization in the United States.

The anger of President Donald Trump and his far-right MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement is ignited at a time when his actions and rhetoric against the immigrant population intensify. In fact, MAGA organized its own 'All-American' show as an "all-American" alternative to take away attention from the presentation of the Latin American. Will he make it?

Music is the backbone of the show during the break of the most important sporting event in the United States, but the attention is not only focused there. The discontent that was already taking over the far-right movement in the US has escalated even more after, in recent days, the artist raised his voice to openly speak out against harsh anti-immigration policies.

"Culture is always linked to politics, even if we want to separate it"

On February 2, after becoming the first artist to win the top award at the Grammy Awards with an album in Spanish - 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos' - Bad Bunny condemned the violent raids and repression of protests by immigration agents in multiple US states.

"Before saying thank God or anything else, I'm going to say: Get out Ice! We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans," said the singer amid prolonged applause.

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In an interview with France 24, the journalist and political scientist, María Paula Martínez, highlighted that "the presence of Bad Bunny – which includes his clothing, his way of speaking, and that it is predominantly in Spanish –" marks a turning point "whose consequences we will see in the following Super Bowls."

The 'Presunto Podcast' panelist also highlighted that the fact "that there is a parallel show and that conservative and opposition sectors have discovered a way to skip it also shows how the Super Bowl becomes a cultural and political battle."

"Culture is always linked to politics, even if we want to separate it," Martínez concluded.

Given the complex panorama for the immigrant community, the singer has taken other actions. In a sign of rejection of the White House's immigration policy, Bad Bunny excluded the United States from his current world tour, arguing that he feared that immigration agents would arrest his followers.

None of the artist's lyrics have been written in English. Even so, he established himself as the most listened to artist on the planet on Spotify in 2025, after snatching the crown from Taylor Swift, with more than 19.8 billion views.

Immigration policy has not been the only reason for clashes between Bad Bunny and Donald Trump, since the singer has also become a standard bearer for the independence of Puerto Rico, an island between the Caribbean and the Atlantic, which has been part of the territory of the United States for more than 120 years.

Likewise, the singer openly supported Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, which Trump ultimately won.

Also read “ICE Out”: Bad Bunny wins album of the year award at the Grammys and speaks out against anti-immigration policy

"I just want people to have fun."

Despite the controversy, the singer stressed that unity and celebration are his main goals in the 13-minute performance.

He did so after President Donald Trump stated months ago that his presence at the event sought to sow "hate." The Republican and his supporters have launched multiple criticisms of the Puerto Rican artist, who has become an icon and is considered a global phenomenon.

"I just want people to have fun. It's going to be something big, the party is going to be what people always expect from me. Of course, there will be a lot of my culture, but I don't want to reveal anything," described Bad Bunny, in a press appearance on Thursday, February 5, in reference to what will be his central performance in the show.

The Super Bowl organization has remained firm in the musical lineup of the sporting event, despite the discredit of the White House.

“Bad Bunny is one of the great artists in the world and that is one of the reasons why we chose him,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday, who declared that he does not expect the Puerto Rican artist to make a political statement during his performance at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.

Read alsoBad Bunny at the Super Bowl: politicization of the most watched show in the world?

'All-American Halftime Show', the parallel and related show to Trump

Supporters of the MAGA Movement continue with their alternative concert, titled 'All-American Halftime Show', featuring pro-Trump performers.

The show has been launched by the Turning Point USA movement, the platform of the far-right activist who was assassinated in September 2025, Charlie Kirk. And artists such as Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett and Kid Rock will participate, the latter being the best known of those who appear.

During a recent interview with 'The National News Desk', Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for Turning Point USA, called the participating singers "brave" after noting that some declined to join the show due to possible criticism.

Since the name of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, was announced in September 2025 as the protagonist of the Super Bowl halftime, the Trump Administration has tried to sabotage the Puerto Rican's presentation.

The American president described the artist's invitation as a “crazy” and “absolutely ridiculous” decision, after initially stating that he was completely unaware of who the singer was who dominates the music industry with unprecedented numbers: named the number one global artist on Spotify for the fourth time, in 2025.

Months later, in a recent interview with the 'New York Post' newspaper in which he declared himself "anti" Bad Bunny, the Republican ruled out his presence in the most watched sporting event in the United States and one of the most followed on the planet — in 2025 he broke a record, with more than 130 million viewers.

Precisely that year, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.

The current tenant of the White House stated that the refusal to attend the 2026 Super Bowl is due to the long distance he would have to travel to the event headquarters in Santa Clara, California, before stating that the Puerto Rican's performance "all he does is sow hatred."

In addition, he also criticized the performance of the band Green Day, fierce critics of his Administration, who will play at the opening ceremony.

Read also: Bad Bunny out of the Superbowl? Trump intensifies his crusade against the musical star

Politics creep into the NFL

Bad Bunny responded in October to early criticism of his invitation to the Super Bowl, commenting that Super Bowl attendees and viewers had "four months to learn Spanish."

The artist already performed in an NFL final, in February 2020—during the first Trump Administration—although not as the central artist. At that time he performed alongside the Colombians Shakira and J Balvin and the New York singer, of Puerto Rican origin, Jennifer Lopez.

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It was in that presentation when López staged his discontent against Trump's immigration policy, by adding elements such as luminous cells in which children were locked up or a United States flag, as a cape, with the flag of Puerto Rico on the back.

In subsequent statements, the artist suggested that the scene of children in cages, which many experts and Internet users interpreted as a criticism of the family separation policy on the border with Mexico, was deliberate.

"Other people may try to build walls, exclude us or lock us in. We are proud to recognize that all of us together are what make this beautiful country truly great," the singer wrote on social media.

Also read EE. USA: why is the support of the singer Bad Bunny important and what does it have to do with Pennsylvania?

California, epicenter of sports

Super Bowl LX will make California the epicenter of sports and entertainment. The NFL final of the 2025 season will be played on Sunday, February 8, 2026 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley, where the Seattle Seahawks will face the New England Patriots.

The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. (local time) and can be followed through NFL Game Pass (available on DAZN). The start of the game will be preceded by an opening concert with Green Day and special performances by artists such as Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones.

Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, is hosting its second Super Bowl after 2016. Opened in 2014, it has capacity for about 68,500 spectators, expandable to 75,000 for large events.

In 2027, California will once again host the NFL final, announced at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

With Reuters, AP and local media

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