This week, the NFL announced that Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, and the reactions are already flooding social media. While conservatives are clutching their pearls over the Puerto Rican superstar taking center stage, Black folks online are making it clear: they’re here for it.
The timing of this announcement is especially significant. It comes as the Trump administration has doubled down on its hardline immigration policies, with ICE ramping up raids across the country. Earlier this year, Bad Bunny canceled several U.S. tour dates in protest of those raids, making his Super Bowl performance feel more like a statement than entertainment. This marks the second year in a row that the NFL has chosen an artist whose art challenges the political status quo. Just last year, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show made waves with its unapologetically political imagery, sparking similar outrage among conservatives.
Unsurprisingly, MAGA wasted no time voicing complaints. But Black folks across the internet are pushing back, welcoming Bad Bunny’s presence on one of the world’s biggest stages and celebrating the cultural moment.
One user summed it up best on Threads: “Bad Bunny doing a whole show in Spanish ain’t no problem for Black folks. We are the cousins of Selena.”
“MAGA is calling for Bad Bunny to be deported, but who’s gonna tell them Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico… which is a U.S. territory,” others shared, teasing some of the MAGA enthusiasts’ outrage.
Others praised Bad Bunny for leveraging the halftime show as a platform bigger than any stadium could hold.
“For those criticizing Bad Bunny over his ICE stance and choosing not to tour in the U.S., but still performing at the Super Bowl: there won’t be any real Bad Bunny fans at that game anyway. The cheapest ticket is around $7,000,” one user shared. “He’s using the biggest stage in the country to send a powerful message, and I’m all for it.”
Across timelines, Black fans are showing enthusiasm not just for the music but for what his presence represents. “You know what I think is interesting. Almost unanimously, every Black persons response I’ve seen to Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl has included AND I HOPE HE DONT SPEAK A LICK OF ENGLISH! You see how we can be okay with everything not catering to us? You see how we celebrate it anyway?” one user wrote.
The anticipation is high, with jokes flying about brushing up on Spanish before February. “We got 5 months to learn Spanish for the Bad Bunny concert 🎶 LET’S LOCK IN‼️” one user joked. On TikTok, users have been sharing their preparation plans, from Duolingo to studying the Puerto Rican artist’s catalogue.
@theluncheonlawyer Who is we? #superbowl #badbunny ♬ DtMF – Bad Bunny
@oneilthomas97 Getting my Spanish together from NOW to party with y’all for Bad Bunny Super Bowl 😭😭🔥🇵🇷🏈 I’m so hyped! @Bad Bunny #badbunny #superbowl ♬ original sound – O’Neil Thomas
Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham joined the chorus of voices hyping the performance, writing on Threads.
“I hope Bad Bunny performs only in Spanish, in dialect so specific, with slang so particular, in an accent so defined, at such an ambitious speed and cadence that no Duolingo streak could ever prepare me [for],” she wrote. “EVERYTHING IS NOT FOR ALL OF US. But we get the PRIVILEGE to see it! Resistance is a common language, even if you don’t know the words being spoken. Imma understand, even when I don’t understand. He’s already gotta speak the language of one colonizer. Stop demanding he speak another.”
In another a separate post she added: “I don’t speak Spanish and I will be SEATED to watch badbunnypr make y’all mad 😂 shout out to our Puerto Rican siblings, especially my Black Puerto Ricans diaspora cousins. we prouda yall. excited to watch you CUT UP!”
As the halftime show inches closer, one thing is clear: Black communities are ready to throw full support behind Bad Bunny. In a political climate where both Black and Brown communities face ongoing attacks, this moment of solidarity feels bigger than football. It’s a celebration of culture and no translation is needed because resistance feels like a universal language.
