What Did Bad Bunny’s Football Say? The Secret Meaning to the End of His Super Bowl Performance, Revealed
Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl performance is one for the books. The Puerto Rican rapper made a poignant message during his Halftime show, while also bringing the life of the party to America’s biggest stage.
The Grammy Award-winning artist teased his performance in a press conference a couple of days before the grand show. “I want to bring to the stage, of course, a lot of my culture, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. It’s gonna be fun and it’s going to be a party…People only have to worry about dance … I think there’s no better dance than the one that come from the heart.”
Towards the end of the show, the singer ramped up the festivities with dancers carrying around flags and shouting out Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, among other Latino nations, and also Canada. “Seguimos aqui [We keep going],” the singer said. He then raised a football towards the camera.
What did Bad Bunny’s football say?
Bad Bunny’s football said, “Together, we are America.” The message nods to the fact that all the countries he listed are part of the broader continent of North and South America. It also largely acknowledges the large immigrant communities that come from those countries and now live in the US.
A week before the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny protested ICE after winning Best Música Urbana Album at the Grammys. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out!” he said in his speech. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans. I know it’s tough not to hate on these days, and I was thinking, sometimes we get contaminados – I don’t know how to say that in English – the hate gets more powerful with more hate.”
“The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love,” he concluded. “So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”
When Bad Bunny announced the tour dates for Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, the United States was noticeably left out. The musician explained that it was deliberate. “People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world,” he told i-D magazine. “But there was the issue that … ICE could be outside (my concert venue). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate,” Bad Bunny said in the interview. “I’ve performed there many times.” He added: “I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the United States.”
During the announcement of his Super Bowl performance, he teased that he would be doing only one date in the US. The Apple Music trailer shows Bad Bunny dancing to his song “Baile Inolvidable” with people of all races, ages, and genders, with the tagline, “February 8, the world will dance.”
Bad Bunny has been a fierce critic of Donald Trump and his immigration policies. In 2020, he wrote to Time about the Black Lives Matter movement: “F–K DONALD TRUMP! PRESIDENTE DEL RACISMO.”
Before the Super Bowl, Trump told the New York Post he would not be attending the football game because it’s “too far away.” The president also shared his opinion about Bad Bunny and Green Day: “I’m anti-them. … All it does is sow hatred.”
