Roger Goodell says NFL “confident” in choosing Bad Bunny for Super Bowl halftime show

Roger Goodell has confirmed the NFL is not considering dropping Bad Bunny for its Super Bowl halftime show following a wave of outrage.

After the Puerto Rican singer was announced as the headlining performer late last month, a wave of controversy erupted online, especially from President Donald Trump and his supporters.

However, Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, said at a news conference following the annual Fall League Meeting that Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, 31, will perform as scheduled.

"He's one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world. That's what we try to achieve. It's an important stage for us. It's an important element to the entertainment value." He continued, "It's carefully thought through. 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."

Everything we know about Bad Bunny's headlining Super Bowl performance:

The Grammy-winning performer cum record-breaking artist has been a vocal critic of the president and his policies in recent months. Per ESPN, he hit the road for a 31-day residency in Puerto Rico recently, though he avoided pit stops in the U.S. mainland. When probed, he cited concerns about ICE raids on Latinos.

Bad Bunny is most known for performing in Spanish and is likely to do so next year at the Super Bowl. His performance is scheduled for February 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As of this writing, it is unclear if the president will attend, though he has reportedly made showing up at prolific sporting events a marker in his second term in the White House.

During an interview with conservative news network Newsmax, the president said he didn't know who Bad Bunny was.

"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 they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it's absolutely ridiculous."

During his recent statement, Goodell also suggested that there may be surprise guest appearances, as is typical. Last year, during Kendrick Lamar's show, SZA, Serena Williams, and Samuel L. Jackson all made guest appearances. The year before that, during Usher's headlining show, Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Lil Jon surprised fans.

“I am not saying that there won’t be additional talent that might be involved but that’s always the way it works,” Goodell said about possible changes to the show's itinerary.

Trending

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback