Part of Bad Bunny’s artistic identity aligns with political issues that concern his fellow Puerto Ricans — especially regarding the United States’ political control over Puerto Rico. His music carries these deliberate messages. Despite the high demand for his music in the U.S., he has remained selective about which stages to avoid and which to embrace. Bad Bunny’s deliberate strategy between absence and presence reveals how he uses the impact of U.S. stages on his own terms: refusing to perform when they threaten his community but exploiting its larger platform to amplify his political stance.

In the middle of this year, the Puerto Rican singer announced his “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS World Tour,” which notably excluded any dates in the United States. However, on Sept. 29, he announced on social media that he will headline the halftime show at the NFL 2026 Super Bowl — the biggest stage in America.

On one hand, in an interview with i-D magazine, Bad Bunny said he would avoid United States performances during his world tour out of fear that immigration forces will conduct raids and endanger his Latine fans. On the other hand, Bad Bunny will perform on the most-watched stage in the entire country. Taken together, these decisions reveal a deliberate strategy to broadcast his political position for the whole country to see — whether they like it or not.

Bad Bunny’s political motivation became clear following the release of the music video for his song “NUEVAYol” on July 4. The video depicts certain scenarios featuring Puerto Ricans living in New York. It’s a candid video that pays homage to his community. The most notable moment in the video is when Bad Bunny pauses the song to focus on a group of men listening to an AI-generated speech by Donald Trump on the radio.

In it, Trump apologizes to all immigrants, acknowledges that America is the whole continent, not just a country and recognizes that without immigrants, the United States would be nothing. This vindictive message turned a laid-back, summer anthem into a critique of the adversarial relationship between the U.S. and Latin American immigrants. The release date, the lyrics and the omission of the U.S. from his world tour send a clear message that Bad Bunny refuses to ignore immigrant struggles.

For millions of Latine fans, fear of losing their freedom to I.C.E. resonates deeply; concerts should be spaces of celebration, not threats. By not announcing any U.S. dates, he positioned himself as an artist willing to lose lucrative concerts to protect his community. This decision forces fans to face uncomfortable questions: How important are immigrant communities to mainstream American society? What does it mean when one of the biggest artists of the moment decides it’s not worth the risk to perform on American stages, yet finds value commanding its largest stage? His silence on U.S. stages spoke volumes and encouraged political discourse on Latine experiences.

However, the Super Bowl announcement shifts the narrative. If avoiding American stadiums was a form of protest, performing at the halftime show seems like a calculated confrontation. Like Kendrick Lamar’s politically charged performance in 2025, Bad Bunny now has the opportunity to use the NFL stage to highlight the difficulties immigrants face in front of an audience of over 100 million people.

This paradox may be precisely the point: Bad Bunny is not rejecting the United States outright, but rather negotiating when and how to step in, resisting its dominance but exploiting its stages for maximum impact. For the first time, an artist of this caliber is telling the American music industry: “We don’t need your validation — but I’ll take your biggest stage and make it my own.” Bad Bunny’s silence, and his carefully chosen presence, may be louder than any of his lyrics. Perhaps that is the point.