During this years Super Bowl, international music star Bad Bunny made history as the first artist to perform the Super Bowl Halftime Show in a language other than English. The performance sparked immense controversy and raised the question: Do politics belong in widely televised entertainment?
The artist headlining the Halftime Show is traditionally someone with critical acclaim who can draw a large audience; requirements that Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, professionally known as Bad Bunny, certainly meets. As of 2026, he is a six-time Grammy winner. In 2025, Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-played artist of the year, with 19.8 billion streams.
The Super Bowl Halftime performance was rich with references to Latin culture and the history of Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny’s homeland. Although the performance did not directly comment on the current United States Administration led by President Donald J. Trump, it referenced the current political divide in North America and promoted unity over hatred.
To end the performance, Bad Bunny said, “God bless America,” and named each country in North and South America. He held a football inscribed with “Together, we are America” to the camera, reframing the idea that America does not belong solely to the United States As the show ended, the screens in the stadium read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Bad Bunny has been outspokenly opposed to ICE raids since President Trump’s second term. In September 2025, Bad Bunny said he would not include the United States in his 2025-2026 tour due to concerns that ICE might raid the concert. After winning Best Música Urbana Album at the 2026 Grammys, he said in his acceptance speech, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out. We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
Despite his worldwide success and popularity, the announcement of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance in September was immediately met with criticism. Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, said, “It sounds like a terrible decision in my viewpoint. It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience… I think, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood − role models doing that. Not somebody like this.” In October 2025, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) announced that it would air an “All American Halftime Show” on Feb. 8 as an alternative to Bad Bunny’s performance, featuring performances from Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, and Lee Brice. TPUSA’s spokesman described the show as “an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom.”
Many people think that widely televised events should be free from agenda. But Kamloops-based punk band, Parody, believes politics will always have a place in music.
Members Dre Vivian, Gonzo Burke, Matt Carroll and Kane Gaehring used their platform in many ways to stand up for what they believe in, including recently releasing a song that directly opposes ICE.
“Punk rock is not just a style or the type of music that you play. It is a lifestyle. It is a culture, and that culture is inherently anti-racist, anti-transphobic, anti-homophobic,” Burke said. The band says that music and politics will always be intertwined, and it’s up to the artist to use their platform with intention.
“Any art is political… You being able to express yourself, that is a political stance in itself, saying I’m allowed to do this, I can speak my mind, we’re in a free place where we can say these things. That in itself is a beautiful thing. I think if you are not speaking up and using the power that you have in a place where we are allowed to do that, then you are just as bad and you’re pushing the agenda of the people we’re fighting against,” Vivian said.
This concept is not exclusive to the punk community, and according to Parody, should involve all mainstream musicians.
“Billie Eilish managed to have one of the most powerful speeches at the Grammys. She’s not a punk at all. We don’t care about genre. If you have a voice and you’re going to use it and say ‘this is bad and we want to stand up to it,’ that’s amazing,” Vivian said.
Following the performance, some online have suggested that Bad Bunny should be fined for violating broadcast decency standards. Republican Congressman Randy Fine took to X and said, “Puerto Ricans are Americans and we all live by the same rules. We are sending @BrendanCarrFCC a letter calling for dramatic action, including fines and broadcast license reviews, against the @NFL, @nbc, and ‘Bad Bunny.’ Lock them up.”
An investigation by the Federal Communications Commission proved that the show did not violate any rules. The legal restrictions of highly televised performances can soften a public figure’s political statements, which Parody is openly opposed to.
“We’re not writing a poem about it, we’re just saying what’s happening,” Carroll said.
“We’re not trying to be digestible and easy to listen to. That’s the idea. They want it to be easier for every single person to be able to hear it. We don’t. It’s not an easy thing to hear that people are being ripped out of their homes, that people are being assaulted…That’s not an easy thing to hear about, and it shouldn’t be,” Vivian said.