Super Bowl LX was Feb. 8, 2026. The Seattle Seahawks faced the New England Patriots. The Seahawks came out on top on the field, but not in my heart. Bad Bunny dazzled the stadium with a performance representative of his Puerto Rican culture. Though the decision to make him the headliner this year has caused turmoil on many news and social media platforms, Bad Bunny did an outstanding job and proved that he deserved the spot as the Super Bowl Halftime show headliner.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is a Spanish-speaking, global phenomenon with over a dozen chart-topping songs. He has 86,236,280 monthly listeners on Spotify and won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS”, the first Spanish-language album in history to take home this award. The decision to make him this year’s Super Bowl Halftime act was one based on facts. He has been a household name for years, collaborating with many popular artists. He’s on songs with Cardi B, Drake, the Marías, and J Balvin. In many of his tracks, he expresses closeness with his family, leaning heavily on his emotions. Bad Bunny is an outspoken activist, singer, rapper, and wrestler whose charisma shone on the Super Bowl stage.
During his performance, Bad Bunny showcased the good and bad parts of Puerto Rican culture. The fields of sugar cane in the beginning gave a nod to the days of forced labor. Puerto Ricans had to stand out in the beating sun and farm tough sugar cane every day to fund the powerful. The leeway into showing dancers, nail artists, and old men playing dominoes displayed the present-day life of Puerto Ricans. If you walked the streets of Puerto Rico, this is what you would see. The sparking telephone poles represented Puerto
Rico’s poorly functioning power grid. Since Hurricane Maria, the power in Puerto Rico has been unreliable, with outages occurring before storms even start. Lady Gaga joining the stage represented the allyship between cultures. Ricky Martin came out singing “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii”, a song about anti-colonialism, worrying about a similar gentrification happening to Puerto Rico that happened to Hawaii. The show ended with Bad Bunny shouting out all of the countries in North and South America, with the message “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”.
People throughout the United States have expressed their distaste for Bad Bunny’s performance. An anonymous NFL player stated, “I don’t even know who Bad Bunny is…I always think it should be an American. I think they’re trying too hard with this international stuff.” This statement is puzzling, considering that Bad Bunny is an American citizen, as Puerto Rico is a United States territory, meaning that Puerto Ricans should feel represented in the United States media. Additionally, Bad Bunny has performed in the Super Bowl before. He joined Jennifer Lopez and Shakira during their 2020 halftime show.
Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show showcased it all: Culture, unity, and the message to always love your neighbour. The critics could not stop the heartwarming show of love for Puerto Rican culture, an event that made thousands feel included within their country. Next time you think “that doesn’t make sense to me, I don’t like it,” think about how other people may feel. Have empathy.
