Bad Bunny Backlash Explodes After He Tells NFL Fans To Learn Spanish

Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny addressed the backlash the NFL has been receiving after it was announced that he’d be the halftime performer at the upcoming Super Bowl, saying anyone unhappy with it should just learn Spanish.

Many people reacted negatively to the 31-year-old recording artist headlining the event, as they noted that, first and foremost, none of his songs were in English.

Social media users also pointed out that Bad Bunny, whose legal name is Benito Ocasio, had previously refused to perform in the United States as a form of protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents enforcing federal law.

Ocasio referenced the criticism during an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend.

“Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors,” Bad Bunny said in Spanish. “It’s more than a win for myself; it’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.”

The singer then switched to English, saying, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

Bad Bunny’s monologue! pic.twitter.com/pjS0Ejckcg

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 5, 2025

Reactions on social media echoed what NFL fans have been saying since it was announced that Bad Bunny would be the halftime performer.

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“That smug, arrogant clown standing on SNL telling Americans to ‘learn Spanish’ if they want to understand his halftime show? That’s the perfect snapshot of what the NFL has become under Roger Goodell. A bloated, elitist trash heap that worships identity over unity, politics over patriotism, and virtue signaling over actual entertainment,” one commenter wrote. “The NFL can go to hell.”

“Imagine an English-speaking artist going on live TV in another country and telling the locals they have four months to learn English. They’d be canceled by morning,” another person said. “But when its reversed? It’s called REPRESENTATION.”

Previously, Ocasio referred to ICE agents as “motherf***ers” and “sons of bitches” in a video he posted to Instagram.

The three-time Grammy Award winner said during an interview earlier this month that he didn’t book any tour stops in the United States because he was worried ICE agents would target concert attendees.

“There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”

The Super Bowl is scheduled to take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8, 2026.