Bad Bunny has become a lightning rod for controversy since he was announced as the headliner of the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show last month. However, the NFL is standing by its decision to offer the Latin sensation the biggest stage in sports.
Calls for the 31-year-old Puerto Rican artist to step down as the headliner have been made by irate fans and right-wing politicians, as well as the political group Turning Point USA, which announced it will host its own alternative halftime show titled "The All-American Halftime Show: Celebrating Faith, Family & Freedom."
Further to that, President Donald Trump weighed in on Bad Bunny, admitting, “I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy, and then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous."
Country music legend George Strait has even been put forward as replacement, after a Change.org petition was started to put pressure on the NFL and halftime show producers Roc Nation, stressing it was "pivotal to remember the roots that have made American music what it is today."
Despite the backlash, the NFL supports Bad Bunny as the halftime show performer.
“He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world. That’s what we try to achieve," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained to reporters on Wednesday (October 22). "It’s an important stage for us. It’s an important element to the entertainment value, and it’s carefully thought through."
“We’re confident it’s going to be a good show, he understands the platform that he is on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and uniting moment,” he continued.
Goodell acknowledged the league's history of choosing artists that attract controversy and backlash, adding, “I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback and criticism. It’s pretty hard to do.”
He also teased that there is a very good chance that Bad Bunny will not be performing on his own, suggesting there will be surprise guests joining him during the show.
“I am not saying that there won’t be additional talent that might be involved but that’s always the way it works,” Goodell said.