At the Grammys Feb. 1, Bad Bunny said "ICE Out" while delivering his first acceptance speech of the night and got a standing ovation. When he later made history as the first Spanish-language album to win album of the year, he dedicated his Grammy Award to "all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams."
Two days later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Bad Bunny for "trying to demonize law enforcement." Later in the week, Leavitt said President Donald Trump "would much rather prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny," referring to the Turning Point USA counter-halftime show.
With only days to Sunday's Super Bowl, all eyes are on the 31-year-old reggaeton artist and not just for his music.
"He probably won't even have the most political halftime show on immigration," says Sam Sanders, host of KCRW's "The Sam Sanders Show." In 2020, when JLo and Shakira co-headlined, they had "kids in mock-up cages to shine a light on Donald Trump's immigration policy during his first term. Bad Bunny has already said enough to be political."
"The halftime show is secondary at this point," he adds.
