Fox News Reacts – Worst Halftime Show in History

A Puerto Rican artist performed entirely in Spanish at America’s biggest sporting event, and the outrage from conservative media reveals more about our national identity crisis than about the quality of the performance itself.

Story Snapshot

Bad Bunny delivered the first all-Spanish Super Bowl halftime show in February 2026, drawing fierce criticism from Fox News and President Trump who called it potentially the “worst” in history
Stadium crowds cheered the 13-minute performance featuring salsa dancing, while conservative outlets framed the lack of English as culturally exclusionary
Latino community leaders celebrated the historic representation as empowerment during heightened immigration enforcement and racial profiling concerns
The controversy sets a precedent for non-English performances at American mega-events, exposing deep divisions over cultural identity and inclusion

The Language Barrier That Never Existed

The crowd inside the Santa Clara stadium understood something Fox News commentators apparently missed. When Bad Bunny took the stage at Super Bowl LX, thousands of fans danced and cheered through every Spanish lyric. The energy was electric. The production was polished. Yet conservative media immediately declared it a cultural disaster because not a single English word was spoken. President Trump had warned before the game that Bad Bunny was a “terrible choice,” and his allies in conservative media amplified that message the moment the performance ended. The disconnect between what happened in the stadium and what was reported afterward exposes a deeper conflict about whose America gets represented on our biggest stages.

A Performer Who Carries More Than Music

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio built his career advocating for Puerto Rico while dominating global music charts. After Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017, claiming over 3,000 lives, he used television appearances to spotlight ongoing suffering under federal neglect. His 2020 performance protested transgender violence in Puerto Rico. At the recent Grammy Awards, he displayed “ICE out” during his set, criticizing immigration enforcement policies. He even skipped U.S. tour stops, fearing federal targeting. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the selection, insisting Bad Bunny “understands the platform to unite.” That optimism collided with reality when critics accused the league of choosing politics over patriotism.

What the Critics Got Wrong

Fox News commentators fixated on language as if comprehension requires English translation. Yet Super Bowl halftime shows have featured multilingual elements before, from Shakira’s bilingual 2020 set to global collaborations that celebrated diverse sounds. Bad Bunny’s performance was different only in degree, not kind. Translator Mike Alfaro observed that the artist’s mere presence carried political weight, while Professor Petra Rivera-Rideau noted the performance held “layers of meaning” for Spanish speakers facing profiling and harassment. The show functioned like a national holiday for Latinos, a moment of visibility during heightened immigration enforcement. Stadium attendees grasped this instinctively. Media critics analyzing from remote studios missed the communal power pulsing through the venue.

The Divide Between Celebration and Condemnation

Chicago club owner Miriam Velez, DJ Emmanuel Ríos Colón, and bakery owner Yazmin Auli saw the performance as validation of Latino contributions to American culture. They celebrated representation that countered narratives painting Spanish speakers as outsiders. Conservative outlets viewed the same performance as evidence of cultural erosion, a deliberate snub of English-speaking Americans. Trump’s pre-show condemnation as “anti-them” crystallized this perspective. No on-stage political messages appeared during the actual performance, contradicting fears that Bad Bunny would use the platform for explicit activism. The controversy manufactured itself through interpretation, not content. The NFL now faces accusations of embracing “woke” programming while also validating Spanish-language music’s commercial viability on the world’s biggest advertising stage.

What Comes After the Controversy Fades

This performance establishes precedent for future non-English headliners at American mega-events. The music industry now has data proving Spanish-language artists can command the Super Bowl platform without compromising viewership. Latino audiences gained visibility that previous token appearances never provided. Conservative critics received fresh ammunition for cultural grievance narratives. The NFL must now navigate booking decisions knowing any perceived political lean triggers backlash. What conservative media framed as the “worst halftime show” may actually signal the future of American entertainment, where demographic shifts and global influence reshape what gets celebrated at our most-watched events. The real question isn’t whether Bad Bunny sang in English, but whether America can celebrate its actual diversity without treating cultural difference as betrayal.