NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell remains defiant as President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters rail against the decision to book Bad Bunny for the Super Bowl halftime show.
MAGAworld flew into meltdown mode after the NFL announced the triple Grammy-winning Latino superstar, an outspoken Trump critic, as the headliner last month. Right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA announced its rival halftime show while Trump labeled the move “absolutely ridiculous.”
“I never heard of him, I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s like, crazy,” Trump, 79, said. “Then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment.”
But Goodell has shrugged off the uproar and is standing by the decision to feature the Puerto Rican artist, who performs in Spanish, as part of the league’s marquee event.
“It’s carefully thought through,” he said at the league’s annual fall owners meaning on Wednesday. “I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.”
Goodell, who’s served as the NFL commissioner since 2006, declared, “We’re confident it’s going to be a great show,” adding that “Bad Bunny understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.”
He noted that the rapper is “one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world.”
It’s true: Despite House Speaker Mike Johnson claiming that Bad Bunny is “not someone who appeals to a broader audience,” a view echoed by Trump, Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist in the world, according to CBS Sports.
The artist, currently on a world tour, told i-D magazine last month that he did not include dates in the U.S. as he feared ICE agents could hold raids outside venues he was performing at.
“Like, f---ing ICE could be outside [my concert],” he said. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has boasted that ICE will be “all over” the Super Bowl, which will be played on Feb. 8, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The NFL has yet to announce any special guests who will join Bad Bunny.
