Spanish may have become one of the most-searched languages in the US as Americans collectively opened Google Translate after Bad Bunny’s performance at the 2026 Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl halftime show, performed on February 8 at Levi's Stadium in California, has become a flashpoint in the country.
Conservative voices have been accusing the Puerto Rican rapper of singing vulgar lyrics in front of millions of viewers.
Highlights
- Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show has become a major flashpoint in the US.
- Conservative voices accused the Puerto Rican rapper of singing vulgar lyrics in front of millions of viewers.
- Tennessee lawmaker Rep. Andy Ogles wrote a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, calling for an official inquiry.
- “Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay s**ual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his cr*tch while dry-h*mping the air,” Andy wrote online.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show has become a major flashpoint in the US
Image credits: NFL
Bad Bunny became the first artist to perform an entire Super Bowl halftime show in Spanish, and he infused Puerto Rico's culture into his entire performance.
From reconstructing sugarcane fields to having a Casita (Spanish for “little house”) where Latin celebrities like Jessica Alba, Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Young Miko, and Karol G were seen grooving with other dancers, the entire show was a celebration of the island's community and heritage.
But critics called the lyrics obscene and questioned how it made it to the NFL’s biggest stage.
Image credits: Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
The lyrics of the rapper's songs were altered for the Super Bowl performance.
But conservative commentators like Megan Basham shared the original lyrics online and claimed the altered versions were “still pretty bad.”
In the song Tití Me Preguntó, the Grammy-winning artist sings about juggling multiple s**ual partners and women from all over the world.
“A lot of girlfriends,” he sang during the show. “Today I have one, tomorrow another, hey, but there's no wedding.”
“I have a Colombian girl who writes to me every day,” he goes on to sing. “And a Mexican girl I didn't even know about.”
Conservative voices accused the Puerto Rican rapper of singing vulgar lyrics in front of millions of viewers
Image credits: NFL
Megan Basham shared screenshots of the original lyrics of Bad Bunny’s Safaera on X, in which he sings about explicit s**ual acts, casual hookups, and the use of illicit substances.
The original song includes lines like “If your boyfriend doesn’t eat your a** / He better f*** off,” but the rapper avoided singing the more explicit parts of the track during the live show.
“These are the most obscene lyrics ever to be performed at a Super Bowl half time,” Megan wrote in her tweet.
“And you have professing Christians in the Kentucky senate and at America’s most recognized evangelical magazine saying Christians should have embraced and celebrated this to show love and to show that we are welcoming,” she went on to say. “Also, the kids would get a ‘kick’ out of hearing this Spanish.”
Image credits: JonnyRoot_
One Republican critic, Rep. Andy Ogles (R, Tenn.), accused the show of “openly glorified s*d*my and countless other unspeakable depravities.”
The show was “pure sm*t, brazenly aired on national television for every American family to witness,” the Tennessee lawmaker wrote on X.
A Tennessee lawmaker wrote a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, calling for an official inquiry
Image credits: RepOgles
Andy revealed that he wrote a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and called for an immediate inquiry into the NFL and broadcaster NBCUniversal’s approval of the performance.
The Republican claimed it was “highly implausible” that the NFL and NBC did not have prior knowledge of the show’s content.
“I am requesting that the Energy and Commerce Committee launch a formal congressional inquiry into the National Football League and NBC immediately for their prior knowledge, deliberate approval, and facilitation of this indecent broadcast,” he wrote in his tweet.
“American culture will not be mocked or corrupted without consequence,” he added.
Image credits: NFL
The people critical of the lyrics included Andrew Kolvet, the spokesman for Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the MAGA-friendly nonprofit that was co-founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Worse than I realized. Pure degeneracy,” Andrew wrote online.
TPUSA had organized a rival event, the “All-American Halftime Show,” to compete against Bad Bunny’s performance at the same time.
The debate led to Kid Rock’s past lyrics about underage girls resurfacing
Image credits: ABC6060842
Branded as a show to celebrate “American culture, freedom, and faith,” the TPUSA show's lineup included Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.
After Kid Rock was announced as the headliner, many sparked backlash online and pointed out his problematic lyrics about underage girls from the past.
“Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage/ See, some say that’s statutory/ But I say it’s mandatory,” says the lyrics of his song Cool, Daddy Cool, which was a collaboration between him and rapper Joe C.
Image credits: Bad Bunny
On the other hand, many defended Bad Bunny’s performance and called it the “least ‘s**ual’ halftime shows in recent history.”
“Isn’t Nicki Minaj like on your team now? Have you SEEN her videos? Trick question - we all know none of you have,” one said.
One asked Rep. Andy Ogles, “Are there not more pressing issues to be addressing than… *checks notes* …a 15 minute halftime show?”
El Apagon’s lyrics “Me gusta la chocha de Puerto Rico” Google translates to “I like Puerto Rican p**sy,” but the song is more of a political statement
Image credits: Bad Bunny
Viewers who looked beyond the lyrics of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance would have noticed that nearly every frame included a nod to the island’s culture.
In the song El Apagon, the lyrics say, “Me gusta la chocha de Puerto Rico,” which Google translates to “I like Puerto Rican p**sy.”
But a deeper look at the lyrics reveals that the party track contains a number of strong political statements.
El Apagón literally means “blackout” or “the power outage,” and the song talks about Puerto Rico’s poorly maintained power grid and the frequent blackouts experienced on the island.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Sunday show had performers dancing on fake electric poles, a symbol of how citizens are sometimes forced to risk their lives by climbing poles and trying to reconnect loose or damaged power lines.
Image credits: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
While Bad Bunny was performing Tití Me Preguntó, he was seen stopping by a street vendor selling piragua (Puerto Rican shaved ice). Piragua stands are commonly found on the island, selling the shaved ice with flavored syrup on top.
The piragua stand in Bad Bunny's performance had glass bottles with different flavors, and each bottle featured a different flag, including Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Puerto Rico.
While the song references women from those countries, the flags were seen by some as a representation of Latino unity during the Super Bowl performance.
Bad Bunny wiped his Instagram grid clean hours after the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show
Image credits: NFL
Hours after his headline-making show, Bad Bunny wiped his Instagram grid clean, deleting all the posts and his profile photo.
The artist also unfollowed everyone on the platform and left only the link to his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos in his bio for his 52.2 million followers to see.
“He should be arrested for public indecency,” one critic commented online, while another netizen asked, “Why the outrage? Trump said he could grab em by the p**sy. Our president”
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