Super Bowl LX will take place on Saturday Feb. 7. The Seattle Seahawks will be facing the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The Super Bowl, however, is not just known for the big game, it is known also for the commercials and the Halftime Show.
This year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show will be headlined by Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican rapper and singer.
Bad Bunny has been given several awards for his music including Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys, at which he also received nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
This is the second year in a row that a contemporary rapper headlined the Halftime Show, following Kendrick Lamar’s performance in 2025. This presenents a change from the shows in 2024 and 2023 which were headlined by Usher and Rihanna who are, and were at the time, most well known for their past work.
As of Feb. 2, no special guests have been announced.
On SNL, Bad Bunny expressed his excitement for being the Halftime Show headliner. During his opening monologue he said “I’m really excited to be doing the Super Bowl. I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy. Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the worlds here in the United States who have worked to open doors. It’s more than a win for myself, it’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.’’
This quote, and the alleged implicit message it contains about United States immigration and deportation policy is one reason some are concerned that the Super Bowl Halftime Show performance will become a political battleground once again.
Whether there will be political content in Bad Bunny’s performance or not, political controversy has already begun to fester regarding the Halftime Show.
There was some initial outcry when a primarily spanish speaking artist was chosen to headline an event with a primarily American Audience, despite Bad Bunny’s popularity. However, signs point to politics being brought into the performance this year as well.
In addition to comments on SNL, at the Grammy’s, Bad Bunny talked about his anti-ICE stance in his acceptance speech.
While people on both sides of the political aisle are arguing over the events running up to the Halftime Show and the show itself, it is important to note that this is not a new phenomenon.
Political messaging in the halftime show is certainly not unheard of, with one of the most prolific examples occurring just last year. Furthermore, the halftime show has now become such an important event in the “culture war” that Turning Point USA is putting on their own halftime show headlined by Kid Rock.
This will be the second time Bad Bunny has appeared in a Super Bowl Halftime Show as he was a special guest in the 2020 show headlined by Shakira and J-Lo. Ironically, this means that this is the second time Bad Bunny has appeared in a performance that draws controversy since the 2020 show was maligned for being overly sexualized by some. The irony goes even deeper as Kid Rock also performed in a halftime show that was maligned for being overly sexualized. Kid Rock performed in the actual Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2004, which was the same year that Janet Jackson had an alleged wardrobe malfunction while performing Rock Your Body with Justin Timberlake.
Whether or not politics are a facet of the Halftime performance this year the event has found itself at the center of a controversy once again.
