Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican three-time Grammy winner, is set to headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
But the announcement sparked political tension this week after U.S. President Donald Trump’s adviser Corey Lewandowski said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be present at the game.
Lewandowski made the comments during an appearance on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s YouTube show.
Highlights
- Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, marking his only scheduled U.S. tour appearance amid ICE raid concerns.
- Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski announced ICE will be active at the game, targeting undocumented immigrants for arrest and deportation.
- Lewandowski criticized the NFL for choosing Bad Bunny, calling the pick 'shameful' and accusing him of hating America.
Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski said ICE will be present at Super Bowl LX
Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
When Johnson asked if ICE would be enforcing immigration laws at Super Bowl LX because of Bad Bunny’s involvement, Lewandowski responded, “There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else.”
“We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you,” he added. “So know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be.”
The remarks came only days after the NFL confirmed Bad Bunny as the halftime headliner at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8.
The performance will be the artist’s only scheduled U.S. appearance for his current Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, explained earlier this year that his tour avoided the U.S. partly due to fears of ICE raids.
In an interview with i-D magazine, he said he and his team worried immigration agents might target his shows.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful,” he said.
“But there was the issue of—like, f*****g ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
The Super Bowl halftime show will now be his only U.S. date, which he teased to fans just before the NFL’s official announcement.
“I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,” he said on X (post in Spanish below).
Lewandowski criticized the NFL for selecting Bad Bunny as the headliner. “It’s so shameful that they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime show,” he said.
“We should be trying to be inclusive and not exclusive. There are plenty of great bands and entertainment people out there who could be playing at that show that would be bringing people together and not separating them.”
He added that ICE enforcement would not be limited to music events.
“If there are illegal aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we’re going to do enforcement everywhere because we are going to make Americans safe.
“That is a directive from the president. If you’re in this country illegally, do yourself a favor: Go home.”
‘That is a directive from the president. If you’re in this country illegally, do yourself a favor: Go home,’ Lewandowski said
Image credits: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump also shared his thoughts in a Truth Social post. “Hard to watch the new NFL kickoff. It’s wrong on every level. They should end it, immediately. Bad for the game of football!” he wrote on Monday, September 29.
Bad Bunny has been supported and defended by Jay-Z, Bruno Mars, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, among others.
Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced Super Bowl halftime shows since 2019, praised the selection. “What Benito has done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring. We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage,” he said in a statement.
Bad Bunny will be the first male Latin artist to headline the show solo and is expected to perform entirely in Spanish, a first for the Super Bowl stage.
The halftime show is watched by more than 130 million people each year.
Lewandowski called Bad Bunny’s selection ‘shameful’
Image credits: badbunnypr/Instagram
His latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, highlights Puerto Rican rhythms and themes of identity and gentrification.
Trump’s second presidency has seen a soaring in immigration raids through ICE, with the agency aiming for a minimum of 3,000 arrests a day since May. The department has also been on a hiring spree, recruiting 10,000 agents, many of them civilians.
The Department of Homeland Security will also condense training for new hires from 13 weeks to eight weeks, including reducing the duration of Spanish language classes and a firearms course.
Bad Bunny’s decision to omit the U.S. from his tour was also made after the rapper witnessed an ICE raid in Puerto Rico in June.
He saw several ICE agents in unmarked vehicles detaining people on the streets, according to a video posted on his Instagram story.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement, discussing the NFL performance. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history.”