Why is Baby Nezza under fire for singing National Anthem in Spanish? Complete controversy explained

Baby Nezza is making headlines, but this time, the Colombian-Dominican singer and social media personality is under fire for her performance at the Dodgers game on Saturday.

On June 14, Nezza was invited to sing the National Anthem, a.k.a. The Star-Spangled Banner, at Dodger Stadium before the game between the L.A. Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Latin singer herself has posted videos where the team advised her against singing the National Anthem in Spanish, but she went ahead and did it anyway.

The 32-year-old singer took to Instagram to post a video of herself talking to someone from the team. The person can be heard saying:

"We are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed."

The clip is followed by a video of her on the pitch, singing The Star-Spangled Banner in Spanish. Baby Nezza wore a Colombian tee, showing her support through her fashion choice, and made it clear in the caption about where she stands amid the ICE protests in the US. Baby Nezza started with a Spanish phrase, which translates to "for my people," she continued:

"Para mi gente ❤️ I stand with you. Yesterday was easily one of the scariest days of my life. I sang 'El Pendon Estrellado' the OFFICIAL Spanish star spangled banner (commissioned by President Roosevelt) at the Dodgers game after being told I couldn’t. And I’m so proud that I did. Stay safe. Stay strong. I love you."

Baby Nezza speaks out after performing the National Anthem in Spanish

In the video clip where Baby Nezza was singing the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium, she was seen to cover her mouth with her hand, getting emotional. The Latin pop singer later took to TikTok to explain her situation.

She gave a brief history of the origin of The Star-Spangled Banner. The anthem was introduced by Roosevelt to improve the relationship with the Latin Americans. In her words:

"It was officially commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department as a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s good neighbor policy to foster a better relationship with Latin America."

She also expressed that she was initially shocked that she was not allowed to sing in Spanish. She said:

"I didn't think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we're in LA and with everything happening. And I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life. But today out of all days, I could not. I’m sorry. I just could not believe when she [the Dodgers employee] walked in and told me 'no.' But I just felt like I needed to do it para mi gente [for my people]."

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She continued to say:

"I'm proud of myself for doing that today... Because my parents are immigrants and they've been citizens my whole life at this point."

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