The Super Bowl hasn’t even kicked off yet, but the halftime show is already a fumble in the eyes of over 100,000 disgruntled fans.
A viral petition demanding the NFL ditch Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny in favor of country legend George Strait has gained a lot of internet interest, racking up more than 122,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning.
The petition, started in October 2025 by Kar Shell, argues that Strait — the Texas-born country music icon with more than 60 No. 1 hits and decades of chart-topping success — better represents “American music’s rich heritage” and would be more appealing to a broad, cross-generational audience.
“The Super Bowl halftime show should unite our country, honor American culture, and remain family-friendly, not be turned into a political stunt,” the petition reads. “Bad Bunny represents none of these values; his drag performances and style are the opposite of what families expect on football’s biggest stage.”
On Sunday, Bad Bunny took to the Grammys stage to accept an award for Best Música Urbana Album and used the platform to deliver a blunt “ICE Out” message.
He went on to say immigrants “are not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens — we are humans, and we are Americans.”
The Bad Bunny debate has become a larger conversation about representation, language, politics and some have even started to label the sporting event as the “Woke Bowl.”
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“Let’s be American,” one petition supporter commented. “I don’t wana hear a Spanish performer at the superbowl. Inappropriate. He’s stirring up trouble with his words.”
“I think bad bunny is a bad example for young audience,” another commented. “He sings in Spanish. That won’t do any good at an American football game.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell firmly defended the “Tití Me Preguntó” singer, telling reporters on Monday that the league stands by the choice.
“Bad Bunny, and I think that was demonstrated last night, is one of the great artists in the world,” Goodell said.
“That’s one of the reasons we chose him. But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on and that this platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that.”
