No, Bad Bunny. We are not all Americans.

Sugarcane worker in Puerto Rico, December 1941

The Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show opened in a sugar cane field with Bad Bunny singing in Spanish about girls sucking his dick, featuring guest appearances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, some rapping about fucking girls with big tits in his car with his erect penis, then the dancers waved the flags of various Latin American countries with a sign that read, “Together, we are America,” and Bunny listed the countries of the Americas. At least it was entertaining. The political message was about as subtle as anything else Bad Bunny writes. We are all American. All Latinos are American. All the illegal immigrants coming to America from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras are American. Love defeats hate. Oppose ICE. Or something like that. The guy’s not exactly a philosopher.

When Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, the reaction was immediate. For some, the choice felt inevitable. The Puerto Rican rapper is the most streamed artist in the world, as he was in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The Swifties defeated the Bunnies in 2023 and 2024, but Benito Martínez, the “King of Latin Trap,” was next to the top both years. Not to mention, he’s a global pop figure whose reach extends far beyond the U.S. music industry, and quite a force within that industry too, having won multiple Grammys, including Album of the Year for an all-Spanish album.

Está pegao.

But for others, the halftime show felt like a provocation. Less an entertainment booking than a cultural statement about language, identity, and who the Super Bowl is for, actually. It also comes at a time when America is debating who America is for, which is also a debate about illegal immigration and ICE tactics, about Trump and his over-correction to woke ideology, and about what we want America to be and who we want to be a part of it. There’s more talk these days about Christian values, Christian nationalism is on the rise, and white conservatives, who have been shamed on the basis of their race for years, are now more openly advocating for white conservative values. Thanks to half a decade of woke politics, they are also no longer cowed by accusations of racism for expressing group self-interest just as blacks, Asians, and Latinos have always done. The immigration crisis has only crystallized those concerns. President Biden allowed in crisis levels of illegal immigrants and efforts to clean up the mess have led not only to ICE abuses of fundamental American rights, but protesters who compare ICE to the Gestapo while trying to prevent immigration officials from deporting child rapists. Meanwhile, President Trump consistently turns the temperature up rather than assuring the public that violations of civil liberties will not be tolerated.

Bad Bunny chose to insert himself into the center of all this. Wisely perhaps, given the attention it has earned him. In the weeks before the Super Bowl, he used his platform at the 2026 Grammys to call for abolishing ICE. During his speech, he said, “Before I say thanks to God, I gotta say, ICE out! We’re not savages. We’re not animals. We are humans and we are Americans. The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” At the halftime show, he expanded on the idea that “we are Americans,” meaning everyone in the Americas. I’ve encountered this before, this sensitivity to the word “American” being used by Americans to mean someone from the United States. Certain Latino social justice warriors will even correct you if you introduce yourself as American. It’s a stupid argument because the name “United States of America” clearly lends itself to only one reasonable demonym — “American” — as opposed to whatever country the Latino complaining about this comes from.

Also, you never hear such people critique the fact that they call themselves “Latino,” even though this does not come from Spanish being a Romance language, but from the fact that France wanted to be able to lay claim to the New World and compete with Spain for territory. So France popularized “Latin America” as an alternative to “Spanish America” so that Spanish-speaking people of the New World could be reframed as belonging not simply to a Spanish family, but a Latin one that also included France. In other words, Latinos calling themselves Latino has more direct colonial roots than Americans calling themselves American. But also, Latinos calling themselves Latinos — but not French, Italian, Spanish, or other members of the Latin World — is an exclusionary synecdoche. It’s the same as when Americans call themselves American but not other people from the Americas. In other words, Latinos who complain about this, yet refer to themselves as Latino, are doing a worse version of the same thing they are complaining about.

And that’s to say nothing of ICE’s legitimate law enforcement efforts. Or the optics of having an outspoken anti-ICE Latino rap about blowjobs in Spanish while lecturing Americans on diversity. The media loved it, of course. In fact, their applause was almost orgiastic. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg called it “the most impressively conceived and executed Super Bowl halftime production I’ve ever seen,” adding that it was “vital in every imaginable definition of the word.” Vital in every imaginable definition of the word? You can almost hear Fienberg weeping for the Puerto Rican sugarcane workers as he writes. Also, is it just me or is “vital” giving off the same energy as calling Caitlyn Jenner “brave”? Nor does giving the quote in context make it sound any less 2020 woke:

Am I sure there were nuances to the cultural specificity being articulated that there’s no way a 40-something white guy could possibly get? Absolutely.

Do I hope some publications have Puerto Rican writers exploring and decoding those nuances? I surely do.

But here’s the thing I know with certainty: When I don’t understand something, I can either attempt to do a little research and follow a few links and learn about the things I couldn’t process in the moment, or I can complain. And, honestly, why would anybody in their right mind complain? Because I understood that the halftime show was about life and humanity and telling a story in a way that’s nearly without Super Bowl precedent. It was vital in every imaginable definition of the word. It was necessary and it was alive and it was musical, well beyond a simple set list.

Obviously, anyone decoding the nuances of a Bad Bunny halftime show would have to be Puerto Rican, right? Give me a break. Imagine the caucasity of being white and looking things up. What I like about this article is that Fienberg openly admits the show flew right over his head — and even hints that it might be racist to do some googling to educate oneself — while nevertheless giddily clapping for it all. He reminds one of a gay pro-Hamas protester or one of those Minnesota anti-ICE protesters who end up defending a child rapist from deportation. Basically, a useful idiot for an ostensibly noble cause, at least once you’ve pressure-washed all the nuance from its surface. Here, I suppose, that cause is diversity.

You see, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance signals the mainstreaming of Latin culture in America at a time when Latinos make up 20% of the population. The problem is, this abrasive performance was also totally unnecessary. It comes off like a celebration of Latino diversity, as if America has finally reached a moment when Latinos can be themselves. We’re here — deal with it. Except Latinos don’t need any mainstreaming. Shakira and J. Lo already did the halftime. Despacito was the No. 1 song in the United States and everybody loved it. Coco is one of the biggest Disney movies of all time. Chipotle is everywhere. Americans love Latin culture. Bad Bunny is declaring victory in a war that no longer exists. That’s because the subtext here is Trump, ICE, and immigration. And I’m sorry, but if that’s the conversation we’re having, then we are not all Americans.

I love Latin america. I have lived in many parts, including Puerto Rico. I am married to a Latina and we have a Latina daughter. I speak Spanish, I cook Latin food, and I dance salsa. Latin culture is a permanent part of my everyday life. Saying that we are not all Americans is not in any way disrespectful to Latinos. It’s just a fact. I also lived in Japan, speak Japanese, and adore its culture. But Japanese are not Americans either. And Bad Bunny framing the message in terms of love doesn’t make this any less true.

Writing for The Chicago Tribune, Christopher Borrelli described it as “close to art” and “a cultural moment, a paradigm shift.” Time characterized the show as “a fierce act of resistance” and “a sharp cultural and history lesson.” I could go on, but I’ll spare you. What I won’t spare you, however, are his lyrics. Yes, I’m exactly the kind of white-privileged male that Fienberg is taking about. One who looks things up. Here are some selected lyrics from the song “Safaera,” which Bad Bunny sang during the show:

Pussy with dick, dick with ass (push it in)
Pussy with dick, dick with ass, yes (push it in)
Pussy with dick, dick with ass (push it in)
Your tits rubbing my nipples (push it in) …

Really big tits like Lourdes Chacón
Really big ass like Iris Chacón
I don't know why I haven’t seen the pussy
But let’s go to bed to fuck you in panties …

I want to grind on you and smoke a blunt
To see what is hidden in your pants
I want to grind on you and grind on you and grind on you (hard, hard)
I want to grind on you and smoke a blunt (hard, hard)
I want to grind on you and grind on you and grind (hard, hard)
I want to grind on you and smoke a blunt, a blunt (hard, hard)
The ecstasy is already kicking in …

My dick is being chased and I want you to hide it
Grab it like a bonga
She took a pill that made her horny
She fucks in the Audi, not in the Honda, ayy
If I give it to you, don’t call me
Cause this is not to make you love me, ayy
If your boyfriend doesn’t eat your ass
He better fuck off

Come down to my house, I’ll lick it all up
Mami, I’ll lick it all up
Come down to my house, I’ll wear you out, ayy
I’ll wear you out
Come down to my house, I’ll lick it all up (papi, keep going!)
Mami, I’ll lick it all up (papi, keep going!)
Tell me, servant (papi, keep going)
If you smoke weed (papi, pa-papi) …

The dealer is twerking (hard!)
It seems like she fucks well while high
I want to take a selfie with that huge ass (wow)
Erect, erect, I’m erect, and it shows (whoa, whoa)
What are we gonna do with that huge ass?
In university they’re all A, A, A
But those tits are C
You are super horny, mami, I already know
I’m also horny, what are we gonna do?
With that bum-bum, go crazy, bum-bum
Go crazy with that bum-bum, go crazy, bum-bum
If you have that bum-bum, go crazy, bum-bum
If you have that bum-bum, go crazy, buoh!

You can decide whether you think the Super Bowl should be family-friendly or whether that ship has sailed. But I don’t think the English equivalent of this song would be allowed. So then what’s going on here? That’s the part that bothers me most about this latest flashpoint in our culture wars. I couldn’t care less whether Bad Bunny performed. I don’t watch the Super Bowl. But it’s the attempt to bullshit me, to gaslight me, to get away with something as if I wouldn’t notice, that rubs the wrong way. For example, to sing about girls sucking you off in front of millions of Americans and then pretend that people are objecting simply because they don’t like the sound of Spanish. Oh, because xenophobia is the problem, is it? Or as if Americans have a serious anti-Latino issue that needs addressing.

Or that, because I want immigration law enforcement, I am therefore anti-diversity. Or that I am racist because I feel no personal guilt over historical colonialism and have no desire to be lectured on tolerance by people who come from cultures that are staggeringly more racist, sexist, and homophobic than modern American culture is by any measure. And here’s a pro-tip. While I do like some of his songs, a Puerto Rican lapdog who humps everyone’s leg is not exactly the MLK of the anti-ICE movement you were looking for.