Bad Bunny might wear a dress during the Super Bowl halftime show. And MAGA is freaking out.
Radar Online reported that multiple members of Bad Bunny’s glam team, as well as a “pal,” say the Puerto Rican star is aiming for shock value with the move.
“He is 100 percent going to wear a dress. A political thunderbolt disguised as couture,” one anonymous source claims. Another added, “He’s not playing it safe. The NFL has no idea what’s coming. Zero.” And yet another confirmed, “The dress is already being sewn.”
The site’s anonymous sources say the choice is to “honor queer icons.” The report has not been confirmed by Bad Bunny or the NFL. The Daily Beast has reached out to both for comment.
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has been in MAGA’s crosshairs long before many were aware of his propensity for women’s clothes. He raps primarily in Spanish—and endorsed Donald Trump’s opponent in 2024. He later made waves by declaring he wouldn’t perform his latest tour in the U.S. to avoid making his concerts a hub for ICE to target Hispanic fans.
And now the dress rumors have given MAGA a fresh piece of meat to tear into, as conservatives rage online, vowing not to watch—or let their children watch—the Superbowl halftime show.
“Start hitting the NFL now,” one peeved social media user posted on X about the news of the artist’s costuming plans. “They deserve every bit of blowback from this Bad Bunny disaster.”
“The NFL went woke,” scribed another, who argued that “football used to be about touchdowns, not drag tributes,” as they called for a boycott.
One account’s post said that as a “56-year-old conservative, white Catholic male,” he should not be subjected to such forms of entertainment during the football game. Another griped they wouldn’t watch the show to see the artist “wearing a dress while s---t-talking Americans in Spanish.”
Bad Bunny’s musical identity has long engaged queer audiences through his styling—and despite identifying as a straight man, the artist was dubbed a “queer icon” by Ricky Martin in 2020.
Bad Bunny told GQ in 2022, “I really can’t give clothes gender. To me, a dress is a dress. If I wear a dress, would it stop being a woman’s dress? Or vice versa? Like, no. It’s a dress, and that’s it. It’s not a man’s, it’s not a woman’s. It’s a dress.”
Before Radar’s report, many right-wingers were already vowing to boycott the show on account of the artist’s Hispanic descent, as some critics are unaware that Puerto Rico, from which the artist hails, is an American territory.
Still, in October, shortly after Bad Bunny’s performance was announced, Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski threatened an ICE raid to potentially deport attendees at Super Bowl LX halftime show. Homeland Security head Kristi Noem similarly said her agents will be “all over” the Feb. 8 game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
