“The only thing more powerful than hate is love”: Bad Bunny’s historic halftime show explained

What does it mean to truly be American? On Super Bowl Sunday, many would say this means gathering around the TV with friends and family to watch the biggest annual sporting event in the U.S. 

For the hundreds of millions of Americans who watch it every year, the Super Bowl serves as a celebration of patriotism and national unity. Its cultural significance is evident in the artist chosen for the halftime performance, which is based on the individual’s relevance and performance impact. 

And on February 8th, 2026, there was no performer more timely– or representative of the American spirit– than Puerto-Rican born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, who headlined the Apple Music halftime show. 

Ocasio, who goes by the alias of Bad Bunny, centered his show around Puerto Rico’s vibrant culture, from opening on a set of sugarcane fields to performing several songs on the roof of a traditional Puerto Rican home. 

But beyond celebrating his homeland, each aspect of Bad Bunny’s performance carried a specific rhetorical message, referencing corruption in both Puerto Rico and the mainland U.S. 

He opened with his hit song “Titi Me Pregunto” as he walked past workers in sugarcane bushes– bushes that were later revealed to be people wearing 40-50 pound costumes. These sugar plantations have become a symbol of colonialism and slavery in Puerto Rico– beginning with African slave labor and continuing today with U.S companies that exploit the island’s labor and land while making enormous profits off the sugar industry. 

Another major issue the island of Puerto Rico faces was referenced in the track “El Apagon”, which means “Blackout.” After Hurricane Maria, the U.S government’s inadequate disaster response, combined with storm severity, caused nearly a year-long blackout on the island. Bad Bunny’s performance featured dancers climbing on poles to mirror the actions of several brave Puerto Ricans who climbed real electric poles to reconnect damaged power lines. 

Bad Bunny has openly criticized President Trump, starting with his response to Hurricane Maria. His 2017 song “Una Velita” is a protest against the Trump administration’s response to the disaster. In late 2024, Bad Bunny endorsed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, posting a video of her saying Trump “abandoned the island,” and expressing the significance of the election to Puerto Rico.

The artist has also criticized Trump’s expansion of ICE’s power and its effects on the Latino community.

After making history by winning the first Album of the Year Grammy for only Spanish music, Bad Bunny shared his sentiments on ICE in his acceptance speech. 

““Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he said. “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”

Bad Bunny’s recent fame as winner of Album of the Year and main headliner at the Super Bowl comes at a crucial time for U.S Latinos who face growing anti-immigration sentiment and frequent ICE raids. Fear has grown so strong that some communities have voiced anxieties about speaking Spanish in public spaces.

Perhaps that’s why his performance was not without backlash from the President himself. 

“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.” 

Turning Point USA, a nonprofit founded by late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, organized a counter-programming performance called the “All American Halftime Show,” which celebrated blue-collar workers and featured a tribute to Kirk. 

But despite his critics, Bad Bunny’s halftime show embodied hope and positivity. After performing his hit song “MONACO,” Bad Bunny shared an inspirational message to viewers in Spanish: “”Mi nombre es Benito Antonio Martínez Bad Bunny, y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas.” 

In English, this translates to “My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I’m here today at Super Bowl 60, it’s because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should also believe in yourself. You’re worth more than you think.” 

The artist’s journey to fame is a story of inspiration and hope itself. Just 10 years ago, Bad Bunny was working in a supermarket in Puerto Rico while creating music on Soundcloud in his spare time. He has since become Spotify’s most-streamed artist and has held the title for the past four years. 

In a heartwarming moment after his performance of “NuevaYoL”,  Bad Bunny handed a Grammy to a young boy sitting with two parents (played by child actor Lincoln Fox). This gesture symbolized the significance of his journey from humble beginnings to fame, as Fox was meant to play Bad Bunny’s younger self.

The most powerful and timely message of Bad Bunny’s performance came at the end of his show. After he performed “El Apagon,” the field flooded with dancers carrying flags from several different Latin American and Caribbean countries. While the dancers surrounded him, Bad Bunny began to list the names of the countries whose flags were flying. 

“God Bless America,” Bad Bunny said as his dancers marched behind him.

But as he stood in the middle of dozens of multicolored flags, the America Bad Bunny was celebrating wasn’t one with a government that threatens to deport immigrants by the masses. He was celebrating a country founded by people fighting oppression, built by immigrants hoping for a better life. 

In his final moments onstage, Bad Bunny boldly held a football to the camera with the statement “Together we are America.”

In this moment, his argument was clear: the United States would not be what it is without Latino and Caribbean immigrants. 

His recent heightened fame involving both the Grammys and Super Bowl remains a crucial symbol of hope for Latinos and immigrant populations all over the country. 

In his Grammys speech, Bad Bunny spoke on the significance of his show being the first all-Spanish Super Bowl performance and winning albums.

 “These winds right now that feel celebratory of the Spanish language, which is being literally criminalized — these winds, right now, for a community that is being targeted on such a deep level — it is a little bit of light,” he said. “It is a little bit of faith that we can still carve out our place here.”

And the artist continued to make history with his Super Bowl halftime show, which has become the most-watched halftime performance ever with over 135 million viewers. 

As the cameras began to fade to black on Bad Bunny’s performance, these viewers might have recognized a quote that echoed Bad Bunny’s Grammys speech broadcast on the Jumbotron at Levi’s Stadium: 

“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”