Bad Bunny transformed the most-watched show in the United States on this Sunday night into an unprecedented cultural and political statement.
During the Super Bowl LX halftime show, the Puerto Rican artist redefined the phrase “God Bless America” -a historical symbol of American nationalism- transforming it into a message of unity that transcended borders and placed all of America, from south to north, at the center of the narrative.
In a setting historically reserved for speeches of consensus, Bad Bunny transformed an American patriotic slogan into a continental message.
“God Bless America”, yes, but understood as a plural, diverse, and shared territory. Not as exclusion, but as encounter.
And that recontextualization was the true spectacle for millions of viewers.
Far from a complacent show, the reggaeton artist transformed the break of the country's most important sporting event into a visual and auditory ode to Latino pride, with constant references to Puerto Rico, migration, cultural diversity, and Hispanic identity in the United States.
Everything, in addition, interpreted almost entirely in Spanish.
The show began with an unusual scene for the Super Bowl: a field of sugarcane, a historical symbol of the Caribbean and colonization.
Dressed in white, wearing an outfit that resembled an American football uniform and carrying a ball under his arm, Bad Bunny opened his performance with "Tití Me Preguntó," signaling from the start that his presentation would be anything but neutral or devoid of identity.
"How wonderful it is to be Latino!", he shouted later, turning the phrase into a kind of collective slogan for millions of viewers.
A stage filled with symbols and cultural resistance
The artist continued with "Yo Perreo Sola," a song that has become an anthem against harassment and is dedicated to the women demanding safe spaces to dance and exist without violence.
Then one of the most recognizable elements of their concerts appeared: the Puerto Rican "casita," a replica of the typical concrete houses of the island, which once again served as the symbolic core of the show.
From that space, Latin and American celebrities began to parade: Cardi B, Karol G, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, Young Miko, among others, in an explicit representation of the cultural diversity that today sustains much of the entertainment in the United States.
“Good afternoon, California. My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio”, the singer introduced himself, before delivering a direct message to the audience: “If I am here today, it’s because I never stopped believing in myself, and you should believe in yourself too. You are worth more than you think.”
In the midst of the show, one scene stood out in particular: the depiction of a wedding between what is presumed to be a migrant and a U.S. citizen, an image that many interpreted as a silent gesture of protest against restrictive immigration policies.
Guests, Memory, and Social Advocacy
The astonishment came when Bad Bunny momentarily left the stage and was replaced by Lady Gaga, who appeared escorted by a tropical orchestra to perform "Die With a Smile."
Later, Ricky Martin joined the show from a set resembling a banana plantation, performing "Lo que le pasó a Hawái," a song that is heavily critical of cultural displacement and gentrification.
"I need several hours to let the tsunami of emotions I'm feeling sink in", wrote an excited Ricky Martin on X, who thanked Bad Bunny and the event organizers.
The staging was filled with messages: dancers depicting impoverished communities of Puerto Rico, electric poles surrounding the singer as he held the island's flag during the blackout, and the presence of the coquí, an endemic amphibian critically endangered, used by the artist as a symbol of cultural resistance.
One of the most emotional moments was when Bad Bunny symbolically presented one of his Grammy awards to a boy who was watching television alongside his father, directly referencing his recent Album of the Year acceptance speech.
"God Bless America" ... for everyone
The closing was as simple as it was powerful. For the first and only time in English, Bad Bunny proclaimed: “God bless America.”
Immediately afterward, he began to name each country on the continent, while the flags of all Latin America appeared on stage, from Chile to Canada.
The final message was inscribed on the very American football he was holding: "Together, we are America."
On the screens of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, a final phrase appeared: "The only thing more powerful than hate is love," a direct nod to their speech at the Grammys and to the political polarization surrounding their participation in the Super Bowl.
Trump strikes back: "One of the worst spectacles in history"
The response from the White House was swift. President Donald Trump described the performance as “one of the worst in history” and claimed that “no one understood a word” of what the artist said.
"The Super Bowl halftime show is absolutely terrible," he wrote on his Truth Social account. "The dancing is disgusting, especially for the young children who watch it across the United States and the rest of the world."
Trump had previously criticized the selection of Bad Bunny as the halftime show headliner, calling it "a horrible choice." After the performance, he went further, stating that the show was "a slap in the face" and "an affront to the greatness of the United States."
The statements come amid a clear confrontation: Bad Bunny has been one of the most vocal artists in criticizing the immigration offensive led by the Trump Administration and, in fact, decided not to bring his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour to the United States to avoid immigration raids.
Despite the criticism, the NFL defended its choice. Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that Bad Bunny "understands the platform he is on" and that his performance would be "an exciting and unifying moment." As expected, the show divided opinions, but it made one thing clear: the artist did not come to the Super Bowl to please everyone, but to convey a message.
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