Jessica Alba was slammed for her dance moves during Bad Bunny's performance at the Super Bowl LX halftime show.
The show featured many surprise guests, including Lady Gaga, who sang a salsa version of Die With A Smile, and Ricky Martin, who performed Bad Bunny’s Lo Que Pasó a Hawaii.
At the beginning of the performance, Bad Bunny danced onstage with several artists who were either born in Latin America or are of Latino descent, including Pedro Pascal, Karol G, Cardi B, and Jessica Alba, whose father is Mexican-American.
Highlights
- Jessica Alba faced harsh criticism for her dancing during Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance.
- Bad Bunny became the first solo Latino to headline a Super Bowl halftime show.
- The halftime show sparked controversy among conservatives, including strong criticism from Donald Trump.
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The stars appeared on the porch of his “casita,” a staple of his shows designed to look like a traditional Puerto Rican home.
While Karol and Cardi danced enthusiastically to the Puerto Rican artist’s reggaeton hits, Jessica—who sported a white corset top with jeans—appeared more timid, with her demeanor seeming inappropriate in the eyes of many football fans.
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“Jessica Alba is genuinely pissing me off sister F****** DANCE,” one viewer fumed.
“Jessica Alba is an imposter! She can’t even rock side to side on beat lol,” read another comment.
“Jessica Alba: a friend invited me,” someone else joked.
Another user referenced Jessica’s 2003 dance film Honey, in which she played a hip-hop choreographer, and wondered why the star was “acting like she can’t dance.”
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One supporter suggested that the 44-year-old might not feel comfortable dancing playfully in the style of reggaeton, a music genre that emphasizes sensuality and often features explicit lyrics.
“To everyone dissing her, have you ever performed in front of so many millions?” asked a separate viewer.
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While Jessica’s father is Mexican-American, her mother is of Dutch and French descent.
“I always took pride in being Latina, it’s something I always embraced,” the Sin City actress told People in 2008. “I like that I look different; I like having flavor.”
She added that, earlier in her career, she struggled to be accepted as “mainstream” in Hollywood.
“I was always trying to figure out ‘How the hell am I going to be mainstream? How are people going to accept me? When are they going to get a clue that I am American, that this is what America looks like – people like me who are mixed, have different blood, mixed with different ethnicities?“
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Entertainment news blogger Perez Hilton, born in Miami to Cuban parents, has dubbed the actress Jessica “Don't Call Me Latina” Alba and accused her of “hating her ethnicity” based on comments she has made about her roles, like saying she shied away from Latin characters because she didn’t want to “reinforce any stereotypes about Latin women.”
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The Super Bowl, played to determine the champion of the US National Football League (NFL), was held on Sunday (February 8) at California’s Levi’s Stadium.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots with a score of 29-13, claiming their second Super Bowl victory.
The game was attended by several celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Adam Sandler, Roger Federer, and Sofía Vergara.
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With his 13-minute performance, Bad Bunny became the first solo Latino headliner to lead a Super Bowl halftime show.
The Grammy winner had previously made a guest appearance with co-headliners Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020.
His show sparked fury among some conservative groups in the US, who protested that a Latino artist who sang in Spanish had been chosen to perform.
The criticism grew following the 31-year-old’s acceptance speech at the Grammys for Album of the Year this month, in which he declared “ICE out," referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
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His performance embraced many elements of Puerto Rican culture, such as street vendors, a traditional wedding, sugar cane fields, and straw hats traditionally worn by Puerto Rican rural farmers.
It also featured political symbolism. At the end, the singer, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, stared down the camera and spoke in English for the only time during the performance to say, “God Bless America.”
He then began listing more than 20 nations in North, Central, and South America as dancers trailed him displaying the flags of those nations.
Behind them, a billboard message read, "The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Holding a football bearing the slogan "Together, We Are America,” Bad Bunny said “Seguimos aquí” (We’re still here) and placed the ball on the ground.
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Following the performance, Donald Trump criticized the Puerto Rican musician on social media, complaining that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying.”
He said the show was “absolutely terrible,” adding that it “doesn’t represent our standards.”
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The US President also described it as “an affront to the Greatness of America” and a “slap in the face” to the country.
The US President also described it as “an affront to the Greatness of America” and a “slap in the face” to the country.
Spanish is the most common language spoken in US homes besides English, with more than 40 million speakers, as per The New York Times.
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To protest the show celebrating Latin American heritage, Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group, streamed an alternative halftime performance headlined by Kid Rock.
Titled the All-American Halftime Show, it concluded with a video tribute to Turning Point’s late founder, Charlie Kirk.
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