In a blaze of swagger, satire, and unshaken confidence, global music phenom Bad Bunny took center stage on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, addressing the political backlash swirling around his upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance — and flipping the narrative on its head.
Draped in bilingual defiance, the Puerto Rican artist, whose genre-blending catalog has dominated charts from the barrios of San Juan to the streets of New York, used his SNL monologue to turn conservative criticism into comedic gold and cultural affirmation.
A Halftime Show Under Fire
Bad Bunny’s appointment as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer has ignited sharp reactions from corners of the political right. Detractors argue the NFL is prioritizing “woke” optics by choosing an artist who not only sings primarily in Spanish but previously voiced skepticism about performing in the U.S. mainland due to immigration policies.
Yet, the backlash seems only to have amplified the magnitude of his platform.
Comedy as Cultural Resistance
Standing in front of a roaring live audience, Bad Bunny wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room. “You might have heard,” he teased, “I’m doing the Super Bowl halftime show.”
He mocked his critics with sharp comedic timing, cheekily suggesting that even right-wing media outlets were thrilled, cutting to a satirical mash-up of conservative commentators heaping praise on his name — a tongue-in-cheek jab at the absurdity of the outrage.
Then came the pivot: he delivered a poignant message in Spanish, declaring the performance a victory not just for himself, but for millions of Latinos across the United States. “No one can erase what we’ve contributed to this country,” he declared.
Switching back to English, he landed the final line with precision: “If you didn’t understand what I just said… you’ve got four months to learn.”
