"I can't wait to watch it!": Shakira explains why it's the "perfect moment" for Bad Bunny to headline Super Bowl Halftime Show despite backlash

Shakira recently opened about her excitement to watch Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl next year, despite certain people protesting against the anticipated performance. In her recent interview with Variety, published on Tuesday, October 21, Shakira sat down to talk about the 30th anniversary of her iconic third album, "Pies Descalzos" which shot her to worldwide fame.

But in a part of the interview, while reflecting about her own career, the Grammy-nominated singer opened up about her feelings regarding Bad Bunny's upcoming performance next year and said:

"I can't wait to watch it!"

Ever since Bad Bunny was announced as the performer at the 2026 Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime show, several groups of people have strongly reacted to the news. The most notable of them being President Donald Trump and many other prominent politicians.

Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk, who passed away on September 10 after he was shot in the neck, also reacted negatively to the news. According to ABC News, the organization even announced that they would hold a program titled "The All American Half Time Show" at the Levi's Stadium in California to counter Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime performance.

More from Shakira's recent interview, as she shows her support and excitement for Bad Bunny's performance next year at the Super Bowl

In her recent exclusive interview with Variety, Shakira addressed her feelings about Bad Bunny's highly-anticipated performance at the 2026 Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime show. Shakira explained how his performance would be a symbol of acceptance of Spanish language, noting on how far spanish music has come since she first started releasing her songs in the 1990s. She said:

"It’s about time! I remember when we did ours that even having part of our set in Spanish was a bold move… Acceptance of Spanish-language music as part of the mainstream has come so far from when I started. I hope and like to think that all the times my music was met with resistance or puzzlement from the English-speaking world before it was embraced, helped forge the path to where we are now."

Shakira is no stranger to Super Bowl performances. Back in February 2020, she, along with Jennifer Lopez, headlined the Super Bowl LIV at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Interestingly, there was two other performers who had joined the duo for a short time on stage.

It was none other than Bad Bunny himself, who, along with B Balvin, appeared on stage during the Halftime show. In her interview, Shakira further added how proud he was of Bad Bunny for having grown as an artist since 2020, calling this the "perfect moment for a performance like." She said:

"And I’m so proud that Bad Bunny, who represents not only Latin culture but also how important Spanish language music has become on a global scale and how universal it has become, is getting to perform on the biggest stage in the world. It’s the perfect moment for a performance like this."

Bad Bunny himself had previously jokingly addressed the controversy surrounding his upcoming performance. During his appearance on "Saturday Night Live" earlier this month, on October 4, the Grammy-nominated singer sarcastically reffered to outrage and added "I think everyone is happy about it."

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