On September 28th, Grammy winning artist Bad Bunny was chosen for what is arguably one of the most widely watched music broadcasts within the United States: the Super Bowl. However, this announcement has raised levels of concern and debate among football fans–and others.

Bad Bunny, a music artist that has been rising in popularity over the past few years, largely after his latest album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” an album discussing all aspects and appreciation of his home of Puerto Rico, a United States commonwealth. Like most other album releases, a tour followed; however, due to the uptick of immigration raids and racial profiling within the mainland United States, all U.S. dates were cancelled due to Bad Bunny’s concern for his largely Latin American fanbase. This decision brought in backlash from his American fans, and people who aren’t fans, which only strengthened with his decision to perform at the sixtieth Super Bowl this February 8th at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Largely, this lack of support for Bad Bunny for this large achievement comes from supporters of the United States’ right-wing politics, with 63% of them dissenting with the decision and 16% in support, according to Quinniac University’s poll, contrasting to both independent and left-wing supporters with 52% and 74% approval ratings of the decision. 

A large amount of this disapproval can be derived from the artist’s political opinions and actions, explicit content in his music–which hasn’t changed halftime performances before–and his preference to sing in his native language of Spanish. These disagreements have led to various calls for replacements–such as George Straight, country artist, and Lee Greenwood, a performer suggested by House Speaker Mike Johnson–and petitions to do so, or in the case of Turning Point USA, an increasingly popular right-wing organization, hosting an alternative halftime show. Eventually, the large amount of lack of support in the decision has led to numerous false claims of Bad Bunny being removed from the performance. 

However,  the NFL is not considering dropping Bad Bunny as its Super Bowl halftime headline performer, said Commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday, October 22nd, according to Associated Press–reaffirming the decision against rumors–at the Fall League Meeting. But in response to continued disagreement over the decision the NFL has announced that two days before the Super Bowl commences, British performer Sting will headline another Super Bowl branded concert.