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President Donald Trump reacts to Bad Bunny as Super Bowl halftime performer: 'It's absolutely ridiculous'

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz10/07/25NickSchultz_7
Bad Bunny
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

After the NFL announced Bad Bunny as its Super Bowl LI halftime performer, the reactions came in quickly. Tuesday, President Donald Trump weighed in, as well.

Trump told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly he had never heard of Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican sensation was the most-streamed artist on Spotify from 2020-22, reaching 18.5 billion streams in 2022. Taylor Swift then became the site’s most-streamed artist in 2023 and 2024. Bad Bunny also played the caddie, Oscar, in Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2.

Trump criticized the decision from Roc Nation and the NFL to name Bad Bunny – whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio – as the Super Bowl halftime performer. He called it “ridiculous” during his conversation with Newsmax.

“I’d never heard of him,” Trump said on Greg Kelly Reports. “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy. Then, they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Roc Nation and the NFL have a partnership in place for the Super Bowl halftime show. As part of the deal, Jay-Z produces the event, which is one of the biggest stages in music. Kendrick Lamar headlined last year’s game in New Orleans, and viewership reached 133.5 million to surpass Michael Jackson as the most-watched ever.

Bad Bunny addressed backlash on ‘SNL’

Reaction was swift after the the NFL announced Bad Bunny as the performer for Super Bowl LI at Levi’s Stadium. It will mark the lone act in the United States for the singer, who will primarily play in Europe and Latin America as part of his Debí Tirar Más Fotos tour, which kicked off in December.

Bad Bunny also hosted the season premiere of Saturday Night Live over the weekend and addressed the reaction to the announcement during his monologue. He included a message in Spanish, telling viewers they have “four months to learn” what he said if they did not understand.

“You might not know this but I’m doing the Super Bowl halftime show, and I’m very happy. I’m very happy, and I think everybody is happy about it, even FOX News,” Bad Bunny said before a reel of clips played. “But, really, I’m very excited to be doing the Super Bowl, and I know that people all around the world that love my music are also happy.”