At the 2026 Grammys last week, Bad Bunny was awarded with arguably the most important Grammy; Album of the Year. He won this award for his 2025 album, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS”, making him the first all Spanish language record to receive this award. He followed this win by headlining the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 last night.
The Super Bowl, which was located at the San Francisco 49ers football stadium this year, was a huge success for the Seattle football team, the Seahawks. They beat the New England Patriots with a final score of 29-13.
“I loved watching the Super Bowl!” freshman Sydney Holloman said. “It was exciting to see the Patriots score towards the end,”
Every year, the impact of the Super Bowl always has large reaching effects in our country, but this year didn’t just affect sports – it affected politics. Discrimination against the Latino community in the United States has grown since President Trump was elected in 2024, making this halftime show especially significant, because of the backlash it received.
When it was announced that Bad Bunny would be the headliner, there was much controversy. He is very outspoken about his opinions against ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement); in his acceptance speech for the Musica Urbana Album Grammy, he simply thanked the Academy and voiced his dissent over the federal government agency.
Later, when receiving the award for the Album of the Year, he talked about the validity of Latinos’ humanity, emphasizing that they were not outsiders. This message was especially relevant that weekend, because numerous protests against ICE in Minnesota, specifically, were held all over the country. These protests showed people’s solidarity with Minnesota, where ICE has been especially active.
Because Bad Bunny wasn’t born in the United States, (he was born in Puerto Rico, a United States territory, and is therefore a valid United States citizen) viewers of the Super Bowl have boycotted watching this year. They claim that he is an outsider and don’t want to listen to his songs, which are primarily in Spanish.
“It is super cool to see such language diversity in the Super Bowl,” language teacher Heather Wells said. “It promotes how diverse our country is and the importance of different cultures.”
In the show, Bad Bunny performed many of his songs on a set with a traditional Puerto Rican house in a traditional neighborhood with food vendor stands and people dancing everywhere. Every element of his show/set had a significance to the Hispanic community, and made a statement.
To end the show, he projected the message “The only thing more powerful than hate is love” on the jumbotron. In addition, he shouted “God Bless America” with a parade of Hispanic flags from South America to emphasize that America includes whole continents, not just one country.
“Even though I don’t pay much attention to the Super Bowl,” freshman Annie Jeong said. “I wanted to watch the halftime show to support Bad Bunny.”
Because there was so much hate towards this show, even non-football fans watched this year, so that they could support his music and message. This halftime show has a special place in history because of the message that it put across, and the political importance it had.
“I’m so glad I was able to see the Super Bowl, and I loved seeing the halftime show,” Holloman said. “It was a super fun game to watch and I thought the large number of people involved in the show was the best part.”
