Bad Bunny Brings Unity to the Super Bowl Stage

By: Annabel Adams, Senior Writer Edited by: Lianna Gourmos

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, professionally known as Bad Bunny, was the Super Bowl LX halftime performer. Fans waited patiently following the September 2025 announcement of his performance. 

Fetch Collective spoke with Katherine Mota, a freshman at Syracuse University. Mota is half-Dominican, a quarter-Salvadorian and a quarter-Honduran. She shared her thoughts on Bad Bunny being announced as the halftime performer. “Honestly, I was so excited…Bad Bunny was my top artist on Spotify for 2025, [and] I've loved his songs since middle school,” Mota said. “Also, it was really big for my family as well, because a lot of [them] don’t really speak English.”

Given Trump’s mass deportations of Latine people since last January, the public questioned to what degree Ocasio’s performance would be a protest against the current U.S. administration. After his appearance on SNL in October and his Grammy’s speech in the beginning of February, it became clear that he would bring his usual confidence to the halftime show and represent the Latine community with pride. 

Fetch Collective also spoke with Elanis Castro-Alfonseca, a SU sophomore from Canovanas, Puerto Rico. Castro-Alfonseca confirmed that Ocasio accurately represented Puerto Rican culture in his performance. “One of the most important things was the dancing…If you go out to a bar or a club back home, that's the type of dancing you're going to see and that's the music you're going to hear. So I feel like it was very emblematic,” she said. “[And the wardrobe] was very similar to what people wear back home.”

He sported a monochrome off-white ensemble consisting of a collared shirt, a tie, slacks, a football-inspired jersey created by Zara and Adidas sneakers. The back of his jersey read “Ocasio” and the number 64 as an homage to his late-uncle, who was born in 1964. 

The simplicity of Ocasio’s outfit blended seamlessly with the backup dancers’ neutral-tone outfits and the vibrant pops of color throughout the set. However, there was a moment of variety in costuming during his song “NUEVAYoL.” The female dancers for this song wore streetstyle clothing with cropped rugby-style shirts and hoodies, jean skirts and intricately styled hair. The male dancers wore jerseys, baggy jeans and cargoes, and sneakers. All the dancers were decorated in thick gold jewelry as well. 

Mota agreed that Ocasio’s use of color helped enhance the culture in the performance, “Color is a really big part of Hispanic culture as well…if you go to Puerto Rico, none of the houses are going to be white…you're going to see houses that are pink and blue, and even the living rooms are going to be orange or something,” Mota said. “I feel like incorporating that color encapsulates our culture in a way too.”

The costumes during this song served as a nod to the Latin culture and customs that have been adopted in New York City through its large Latin community, also known as Nuyorican culture. The influence of Latin culture on NYC has allowed for Latin New Yorkers to develop their own subset of culture. 

These nods are also present in the set pieces. On set, there’s a bodega (or La Marqueta) displaying a menu selling tacos and sandwiches, and fresh fruit sits below. Next to the bodega is a hair salon with a woman sitting outside getting her hair braided, and a man inside getting cornrows. The style and set choices matched the song’s shoutout to NYC’s Latines. 

“New York and P.R. have so much crossover because [if] you go out in New York anywhere, you will find at least two Puerto Ricans on your way to wherever you go. It is such a big hub for culture,” Castro-Alfonesca said. “Even if he was trying to represent New York when he was performing [“NUEVAYoL”], by default he's also representing Puerto Rico because there's so much overlap between the two.”

At the end of the performance, Ocasio held up a football that read “God Bless America.” He then named off every country in North, Central and South America. This gesture intended to remind viewers that the United States is not the only American country, as is usually forgotten. The dancers march forward and sing along to “DtMF” as they wave the respective flags of each country.

“I watched the Super Bowl halftime show in Schine, and there were a lot of Hispanic people there. So I think that seeing all these people from different countries come together to experience that was very powerful,” Castro-Alfonesca said. “In terms of the diversity that he was pushing…with all the flags is what was happening when people were watching it. People from different cultures are coming together.”

In an interview with ABC Eyewitness News prior to the Superbowl, Ocasio highlighted the importance of showcasing his culture in the performance without giving any spoilers. He wanted to share that he comes from the same background as everyone else, he just makes music now. “I wasn't looking for album of the year. I wasn't looking to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show," he said. "I was just trying to connect with my roots, connect with my people, connect with myself."

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