Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show will be the first time a Super Bowl performance will be interpreted in Puerto Rican Sign Language, also known as LSPR.
Puerto Rican partially deaf performer Celimar Rivera Cosme will make history while interpreting the performance. Rivera Cosme of Puerto Rico, who will lead a “multilingual signing program” during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance, will prove that Puerto Rican Deaf culture has a place on one of music’s biggest stages.
LSPR incorporates Spanish and is a dialect of American Sign Language. It comes with its own grammar, rhythm, and cultural identity inspired by Puerto Rico’s history and Deaf community.
“In a historic first, the signed rendition of the Apple Music Halftime Show will feature a multilingual signing program incorporating Puerto Rican Sign Language, led by Deaf Puerto Rican performer Celimar Rivera Cosme,” an NFL release said.
Ahead of her performance, Rivera Cosme told ABC News through an interpreter in Spanish, “I feel incredibly proud because everything that Bad Bunny is doing is making history. And it means that sign language is also going to make history there.”
“The most important thing is to emphasize that we have our own language, our own identity and our own culture.”
Rivera Cosme does more than interpretation as she puts in a lot of emotion and storytelling while doing her work, making sure that deaf audiences have almost the same experience as other fans while at concerts.
“Interpretation is one thing, but I’m not going there to interpret, I’m going to perform. In Puerto Rico, we’re very used to seeing interpreters everywhere,” she said to ABC News. “But the Super Bowl is different — you have to add your flow, your vibe, your style, and your attitude, and bring all of that together with the interpretation. The body’s movement is different.”
She recounted how shocked she was when she got the call from the NFL for the job.
“I said, ‘Well, this means a great responsibility for me, especially for my deaf community, because it’s great that they chose me, but I want to shine, and I want the Puerto Rican deaf community to shine with me too,'” she said.
But this will not be the first time Rivera Cosme will be interpreting for Bad Bunny. In 2022, while the deaf community in Puerto Rico was advocating to have interpreters at concerts, it asked the team of Bad Bunny if they could include interpreters at his world tour stop in Puerto Rico. He agreed and Rivera Cosme was brought on board for his 2022 World’s Hottest Tour, where she earned acclaim. She also interpreted during Bad Bunny’s El Choli residency in Puerto Rico, a cultural celebration of Puerto Rican identity.
“But the Super Bowl is a very big stage where many people will have their eyes on this event, and I’m very proud of that and of representing our Puerto Rican Sign Language,” Rivera Cosme said.
The Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, with Bad Bunny headlining the halftime show and becoming the first solo Spanish performer. Jay-Z had to come to the defense of Bad Bunny recently after a section of people, including President Donald Trump, expressed displeasure with the Puerto Rican musician being selected to headline the Halftime Show.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, performs in Spanish and has a global fanbase. The 31-year-old is also a vocal Trump critic, so it came as no surprise that the president and other Conservatives condemned his selection.
