At a time where the political climate felt less like a news cycle and more like a fever dream, Bad Bunny didn’t just perform at the Super Bowl; he staged a cultural intervention. While the White House is busy threatening to “nationalize” voting and the shadow of ICE looms larger than ever, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio turned the Levi’s Stadium pitch into a 13-minute manifesto of Latinx joy and defiance.
For us watching from across the pond, it might have looked like a high-budget fiesta. But look closer: this was art as activism at its most potent.
While Trump and his cabinet staged a petulant boycott opting for a “counter-programming” set by Kid Rock that felt about as relevant as a flip phone in 2026 Bad Bunny leaned into the very things the MAGA-verse fears most: Spanish, history, and unapologetic brown excellence.
From the jíbaros in traditional straw hats to the sugarcane fields set pieces, Benito reclaimed the narrative of Puerto Rican colonisation. Fresh off his viral “ICE out” Grammy speech, he kept the pressure on. When he lofted a football above his head emblazoned with “Together, We Are America,” he wasn’t just being sentimental; he was radically redefining who gets to claim the word “American.”
In a move that was absolute “king shit,” he shouted “God Bless America” and then immediately listed countries from Chile to Mexico. It was a subtle, genius middle finger to the isolationist rhetoric currently choking D.C.
If the set was a masterpiece of intentionality, Lady Gaga’s cameo was the only “skip” in an otherwise flawless tracklist.
Don’t get us wrong, we’ll always stan Mother Monster, and her salsa-fied “Die With a Smile” was vocally transcendent. But in a show vibrating with Boricua pride and resistance, Gaga felt… well, a bit like a tourist. While Ricky Martin’s appearance felt like a passing of the torch, Gaga’s moment felt like a concession to “Star Power” that a performer as massive as Bad Bunny simply doesn’t need.
In a world where federal agents are raiding election offices, we didn’t need a pop ballad; we needed the fire that Benito was already providing.
Let’s be real: Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist on the planet for a reason. He inhabits a “porosity of identity” that resonates with anyone living through the current global shift toward the right. By performing entirely in Spanish on the world’s most-watched stage, he made the act of existing a political statement.
As the Jumbotron flashed “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE,” it felt less like a Hallmark card and more like a battle cry. Trump called it a “slap in the face to our country.” We call it the most relevant, revolutionary halftime show in the history of the game.
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