Bad Bunny is slated to headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show, and fellow musician Kehlani is hoping that the Puerto Rican performs solely in his native Spanish.
Conservatives led by President Donald Trump have expressed their displeasure with Bad Bunny, also known as the “King of Latin Trap,” being selected to headline next year’s event.
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 comes as no surprise that the president and other Conservatives are condemning his selection.
Despite the backlash coming from a section of people, Kehlani, 30, has no qualms with Bad Bunny headlining the event. She also said it was “incredible” that the Puerto Rican singer was going to perform in his native tongue despite the hostility.
“He’s about to do the Super Bowl and probably not in English at all, in a time where that’s basically criminalized,” Kehlani said on Billboard’s No. 1s livestream on Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “That’s incredible. I think he shouldn’t say a single word in English. … He don’t owe us that at all.”
After declaring her stance, host and comedian Druski asked Kehlani how they were “going to understand” Bad Bunny’s performance. She replied, saying, “We don’t have to.”
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Kehlani expressing her support for Bad Bunny came after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell emphasized that they were not going to replace the Grammy-winning Puerto Rican artist, despite the backlash.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Jay-Z has similarly defended the decision to pick Bad Bunny to headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show. In 2019, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint inked a deal with the NFL to produce the Super Bowl Halftime Show, so the billionaire rapper and businessman has a key say when it comes to artist selection every year.
“I think his commitment to uplifting his culture has been so serious,” Kehlani said about Bad Bunny. “Like refusing to tour here, only touring in Puerto Rico to change the economy back home was something super exemplary, and I love that about him.”
The Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8. It, however, cannot be established if Trump will be in attendance.
During a previous interview on Newsmax, Trump claimed that he did not know who Bud Bunny was. “I don’t know who he is,” Trump said at the time. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
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