Bad Bunny helped Saturday Night Live kick off its 51st season on Oct. 4 and took time to address conservative critics of his upcoming 2026 Super Bowl Halftime performance.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took to the stage in NY for the first time since making the decision not to bring his massively popular concert tour to US cities due to the threat of ICE raids. He used the show’s platform to address the rampant racism and ignorance that followed his historic Super Bowl announcement.
“You may not know but I’m doing the Super Bowl Halftime show and I’m very happy,” he said. “And I think everyone is very happy about it, even Fox News. No, but really I am very excited to be doing the Super Bowl and I know that people all around the world, who love my music, are also happy.”
He continued, in Spanish, saying,
“Especially for all Latinos and Latinas around the world, and for those here in the U.S. for every person who has worked hard and opened doors for others. This achievement is not only mine, it is a shared accomplishment that demonstrates the legacy and contributions we have made in this country something that no one can take away or erase. And if you didn’t understand that, you have four months to learn.”
Heard you, señor!
It was also the first time in the show’s history that a performer closed a season and then was brought back to help open the next, NBC News reports. Bad Bunny has appeared on the show three other times with his first appearance being in 2020; however, his latest hosting duties seemed to send a big message to detractors that he has no plans to relent to the onslaught of negativity.
During a podcast appearance, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stoked the flames of division around Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance saying that ICE Agents would be “all over” the big game festivities to make arrests, NBC News reports. This followed President Trump‘s impassioned response to the announcement in which he called the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny “shameful.” Trump’s advisor, Corey Lewandowski, also had choice words for the league during an appearance on the The Benny Show where he echoed Noem’s threats of ICE arrests.
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” he said, according to VICE News. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you. Know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be. It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the Halftime Show, there are plenty of great bands and entertainment people who could be playing at that show that would be bringing people together and not separating them.”
It is worth noting that the NFL entered into an agreement with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation back in 2019, giving the company free rein over the league’s live music strategy. The contract was said to be part of the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative, which was the league’s somewhat apologetic response to how it handled Colin Kaepernick’s brave stance against police brutality. The move by Jay was controversial at the time but he and Roc Nation have given the world’s biggest stage to diverse and fearless voices every year since. As previously reported by BOSSIP, Roc Nation and the NFL extended their partnership last year for an undisclosed amount of time.
According to the NFL, the Inspire Change campaign has resulted in $55 million in grants to social justice organizations, and team contributions have resulted in more than $248 million to “change-driven” non-profits.
