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Trump pulls a Mariah Carey move on Bad Bunny: “I don’t know who he is”

Despite claiming to not know who he is, Trump calls the choice for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show “ridiculous"

Culture Fellow

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Bad Bunny (John Nacion / Variety / Getty Images)
Bad Bunny (John Nacion / Variety / Getty Images)

President Donald Trump criticized the NFL’s decision to tap Bad Bunny for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, calling it “absolutely ridiculous” in a Monday night interview with Newsmax. “I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it — it’s, like, crazy.”

Bad Bunny, a three-time Grammy winner and one of Latin music’s biggest stars, is set to headline the halftime show in Santa Clara, California. The performer, who sings primarily in Spanish, has been an outspoken critic of Trump-era immigration policies. In an interview with i-D magazine, he explained that he avoided scheduling stops in the continental U.S. on his latest tour due to fears that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could raid the venues.

Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, recently warned that ICE agents would be present at the game. “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski said on the conservative podcast “The Benny Show.” “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you.”

While hosting the Oct. 3 premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” Bad Bunny addressed the backlash over his upcoming performance. “I think everyone is happy about it — even Fox News,” he joked. Then, switching to Spanish, he told the audience, “It’s more than a win for myself, it’s a win for all of us [Latinos and Latinas]. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.” He added in English: “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

Next year’s Super Bowl is set for Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

Anyway! Stream “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” 

By Angelina Mazza

Angelina Mazza is a writer living in Brooklyn, by way of Montreal. Her work appears in Slate, Defector, Salon, Literary Hub, The Creative Independent, Paste, Longreads, and elsewhere. Find her online at angelinamazza.com.


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