No, the NFL Isn’t Reconsidering Bad Bunny for Super Bowl Halftime Show: ‘It’s Carefully Thought Through’

The NFL is standing by Bad Bunny as next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, regardless of the controversy surrounding the decision.

While speaking to press on Tuesday (Oct. 21), the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell dismissed questions about whether the NFL would reconsider the selection of Benito to perform at the big game in February. “He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world,” he said, according to CBS Sports. “That’s what we try to achieve.”

“It’s an important stage for us,” Goodell continued. “It’s an important element to the entertainment value. It’s carefully thought through.”

He also pointed out: “I don’t think we’re ever selected an artist without some blowback or criticism.”

The commissioner’s comments come amid backlash from certain people — primarily MAGA conservatives — who have taken issue with the choice of a Spanish-speaking musician to perform at halftime. President Donald Trump called it “absolutely ridiculous,” while White House advisor Corey Lewandowski said, “It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the Halftime Show.”

The chart-topping singer-rapper — who is from Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States — has never indicated that he hates America. He has, however, expressed his hesitance to tour in the U.S. due to concerns that ICE might target his audiences, a fear that Lewandowski further stoked by adding in an October interview that immigration enforcement agents would be present at the Super Bowl.

“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” the advisor said at the time. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you.”

Turning Point USA, an ultraconservative youth organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, also announced its intention to host an alternate halftime show out of protest.

But while there is a loud and vocal group speaking out against Bad Bunny’s appointment as 2026 halftime headliner, countless others — from Shaboozey to Jennifer Lopez — have shared how excited they are for Benito’s performance. Shakira also recently said, “It’s the perfect moment for a performance like this.”

She added in an interview with Variety, “I’m so proud that Bad Bunny, who represents not only Latin culture, but also how important Spanish language music has become on a global scale and how universal it has become, is getting to perform on the biggest stage in the world.”