Midway through the Packers-Cowboys game on Sunday appeared a 23-second commercial. Like all things Benito Ocasio Martinez, it was deceptively simple. The video begins close in on the face of the impish superstar in a palm-leaf pava hat, a stunning beachfront sunset—the kind that only Puerto Rico can deliver—behind him. Waves crash and seagulls cry as we hear the opening notes of his dreamy track “Callaita” and the camera begins to zoom out. The singer is sitting on a goalpost in a suit and flip-flops, casually swinging his legs. It’s official: Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
Tuning into the Super Bowl is one of the last shared cultural experiences in our divided country, and the announcement has ignited another round in the culture wars over what “real America” should look and sound like.
Bad Bunny, or Benito, as he’s affectionately referred to by his fans, is closing out a historic year. In January, his latest album hit a billion streams in just 13 days. Rather than tour to promote the album, the artist announced a summer-long residency in his homeland of Puerto Rico, called “No me quiero ir de aquí” (“I don’t want to leave here”). The 31 shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, known as El Choli, were an unapologetic celebration of Puerto Rican music and culture
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