OPINION: Bad Bunny’s halftime show wasn’t un-American—you are

Bad Bunny broke records and made history last Sunday by being the first Latin-American solo act to headline Super Bowl LX. His halftime performance is one of the most-viewed Super Bowl halftime shows of all time, cementing his place along the likes of iconic acts Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, and Kendrick Lamar. 

When news broke that the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, or Benito, was slated to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, the country seemed to divide even further. Right-wing public figures took to social media to express their discontent with the decision, gaining so much traction that Turning Point USA was even able to put on an “All-American Halftime Show” to boycott Bad Bunny’s performance and to entice American audiences to watch theirs instead.

Turning Point USA, once helmed by right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, honored their late founder by airing a prerecorded performance featuring Kid Rock, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett. The performance was replete with flashy fireworks and country songs about “catching fish and driving trucks.” The show garnered a concurrent audience of around 6 million. 

128 million viewers watched Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. With a guest appearance from Lady GaGa, the performance focused on celebrating all American countries, not just the United States.   While holding a football that was embossed with the phrase “Together we are America,” Bad Bunny rattled off the name of every country in North and South America, a billboard reading “The only thing more powerful than hate is love” standing bright behind him. 

Despite being a performance dedicated to embracing love and America, the right, inexplicably but unsurprisingly, took great offense to the show. 

Although he called for a boycott of the performance, President Donald Trump was quick to post his displeasure with Bad Bunny’s performance on Truth Social, a right-wing alternative to Twitter. 

As far as I’m concerned, if you find yourself angry that an American citizen headlined the Super Bowl, put on a performance that praised God, featured an actual marriage, an astounding cast of dancers, and a message of unity and love, you might need to reassess your values.

I can think of nothing as unabashedly American as Bad Bunny’s halftime performance. A celebration of music, culture, and love, the show was as fun as it was heartfelt. The “All-American Halftime Show” was dull in comparison. A thinly-veiled piece of propaganda proselytizing to an audience hateful enough to fall for it. 

Bad Bunny’s performance wasn’t un-American; it was a representation of all the things that make America great—love, diversity, and culture. 

What’s un-American is a farcical, supposed memorial, headlined by a man whose songs include lyrics such as, “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage, see some say that’s statutory (but I say that’s mandatory).” 

What’s un-American is taking children from their homes, tearing families apart, and murdering U.S. citizens, all in an effort to catch “illegals,” as if we aren’t all living on stolen land. 

It’s easy to get caught up in a mudslide of hate and tragedy these days. The news seems to get worse every time I turn it on. But when I’m thinking about the sorry state this country is in, how it’s disappointed me more than anything has in my entire life, I try to remember that we are stronger when we work together, hate can only move people so far, and, in the words of Bad Bunny, the only thing more powerful than it is love.