Transparency Item: The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the writer.
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known globally as Bad Bunny, took the stage at the Super Bowl LX halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 8.
From the moment the National Football League announced him as the headliner in late September, backlash surged. In a political climate already thick with tension, many critics viewed his selection through a lens of suspicion and, in many cases, outright hostility, according to Daily Mail. Ocasio’s outspoken criticism of U.S. immigration policies has made him polarizing, and that is precisely why he belonged on that stage.
Ocasio has never positioned himself as a neutral entertainer, as he constantly uses his platform to challenge systems of power and speak on behalf of immigrant communities and marginalized populations.
Before his debut at the NFL halftime show, he recently won a Grammy award for his album “Debí Tirar Mas Fotos,” marking another achievement under his belt, as it made history becoming the first Spanish-speaking album to win the award, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He used this accomplishment as an opportunity to speak out on the tragedies happening all around the world.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens,” Ocasio said. “We are humans, and we are Americans.”
Ocasio’s powerful speech was punctuated by his emphatic cry of “ICE out!” from the podium, which only intensified online speculation about his personal security.
Social media users quickly started theorizing the artist had taken extraordinary precautions, from wearing a bulletproof vest beneath his tuxedo to deliberately sitting alone at his table as a protective measure. His team has offered no clarification, issuing no statements or reports to substantiate these claims, according to Vanity Fair.
What remains indisputable is the steady stream of threats that has drawn renewed attention to concerns about his safety, according to The Express Tribune.
Despite receiving threats since the NFL’s announcement and even more since his stance at the Grammys, he did not dilute his message at his halftime performance; instead, he amplified it by embedding pointed affirmations throughout his show.
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” read a billboard inside the stadium, while “Together, we are America,” appeared on a football prop he revealed near the end of his set.
Performing predominantly in Spanish during one of the most-watched broadcasts in the United States was not incidental; it was intentional. It served as a reminder American identity is not homogeneous, and by bringing politics into a sports arena, he challenges the notion entertainment must remain detached from reality.
Football and music are cultural rituals within the United States, and culture is, and will always be, inherently political.
Throughout the 13-minute-and-42-second performance, dancers and musicians of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds filled the stage alongside Ocasio. This imagery was deliberately served as a form of resistance through representation.
While Ocasio honored his Puerto Rican heritage, he also widened the frame, signaling solidarity with communities often sidelined and disempowered in national political narratives today. His performance was a tribute to all of us.
As the set closed, Ocasio’s performers waved flags representing countries across the globe, restating his message that the story of America extends far beyond a single border.
Art is political in nature and has never existed in a vacuum. It reflects power in confronting injustice and inviting dialogue among all.
By placing this message at the center of one of the nation’s most acknowledged platforms, Ocasio forced a conversation that many would rather avoid and pretend does not exist.
The question is no longer whether politics belong within sports settings because, for years, it always has. The real task is to accept this reality and use the platform Ocasio and numerous others have paved to pursue meaningful change.
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Contact Genevieve Cantu via email: genevieve.cantu@pepperdine.edu