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Legendary rapper Jay-Z came to Bad Bunny’s defense amid controversy over the Puerto Rican artist’s choice to perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show.
Jay-Z’s company, Roc Nation, co-produces the NFL halftime show and reportedly makes the final decision on the headliner each year. This year, Bad Bunny’s selection has caused rejection from fans.
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Bad Bunny performs on the Coachella stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on Friday, April 21, 2023. (Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun/USA TODAY NETWORK)
But Jay-Z didn’t believe the outrage.
“They love him. Don’t let them fool you,” he told TMZ Sports on Monday night.
Jay-Z didn’t go much further, telling the TMZ reporter that he “doesn’t have any scoop for you.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended Bad Bunny’s selection, despite the Grammy winner’s comments about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the past year.
“It’s carefully thought out,” Goodell said of the decision-making process for the halftime show. “I’m not sure we’ve ever cast an artist that we haven’t had adverse reactions or criticism from. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people watching.”
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Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio MartÃnez Ocasio, has been criticized by President Donald Trump and his followers for his public comments about the president and his administration. The 31-year-old man expressed fears about ICE, so he decided to take up residence in his native Puerto Rico to avoid stops in the United States.
He said last month that he had not booked any US dates for his tour for fear that ICE agents would detain his fans.
“But there was the issue that ICE might be outside.” [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and that worried us a lot,” he told iD.
Bad Bunny also recorded and posted videos of what he described as local ICE raids on social media in Puerto Rico.
“Look, those sons of bitches are in these cars, RAV-4. They’re here in Pontezuela,” he said in Spanish, mentioning ICE working on Avenida Pontezuela in Carolina, a city east of Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on during a news conference at Caesars Superdome on February 3, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to the NFL Super Bowl LIX football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Some NFL fans took issue not only with those comments, but also with his hit songs sung in Spanish. But Goodell has no qualms about the show he expects from Bad Bunny.
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“We’re sure it’s going to be a great show,” Goodell said. “He understands the platform he’s on and I think it’s going to be an exciting, bonding moment.”
