The commissioner of the National Football League addressed the public outrage over the decision to have Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny perform during the halftime show at the Super Bowl.
Many football fans were furious when the NFL made the announcement, especially after some anti-Trump comments of his resurfaced on social media.
‘He understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.’
Commissioner Goodell defended the decision while speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the annual Fall League Meeting.
“It’s carefully thought through,” Goodell said. “I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.”
The 31-year-old rapper was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and has refused to perform on the mainland of the U.S. out of fear of the mass deportation policies of President Donald Trump. He has instead performed his shows in Puerto Rico, a territory of the U.S.
Many were further antagonized when Ocasio responded to the outrage by joking that anyone who wanted to understand his performance would have to learn Spanish.
“We’re confident it’s going to be a great show,” Goodell continued. “He understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.”
He also pointed to Bad Bunny’s popularity as the rationale for the decision.
“He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world,” Goodell said. “That’s what we try to achieve. It’s an important stage for us. It’s an important element to the entertainment value.”
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President Donald Trump weighed in on the decision and said he had never even heard of the rapper.
“I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Goodell also faced criticism in February when he said the NFL would continue supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies despite so many companies abandoning them after Trump’s election victory.
The Super Bowl will be held on February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
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