Bad Bunny, or Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a world-renowned Puerto-Rican rapper, singer, and three-time Grammy winner, has recently made headlines for his refusal to include U.S. concerts on his 2025-26 world tour, due to concern about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents targeting fans outside his shows. However, this February, he will be performing at an event with thousands of viewers — the Super Bowl.
His decision to withhold from adding U.S. concerts to his tour has sparked reactions across the U.S., including the students at Berkeley High School.
In an interview with I-D magazine, Bad Bunny expressed his fear of ICE waiting outside his concert, demonstrating that the safety of his fans was a substantial concern. “I felt very sad when I heard he was skipping U.S. tour dates because of ICE, but I do understand his reasoning. Based on threats and what ICE is currently doing, I have no idea what would happen at a concert of his,” BHS sophomore Sachi Chakko said, “If I have a chance to go to a Bad Bunny concert in the U.S., I would probably only be thinking about Bad Bunny and the extreme amount of hype and joy I would be feeling. I do have citizenship, so I don’t think I would worry, but I know that’s not the case for everyone.” Like Chakko, Aysa Moghaddam, a sophomore at BHS, is also disappointed but understanding. “I am sad that he’s not going to do a U.S. tour, but I get where he’s coming from, that it can become a risk,” Moghaddam said.
Some artists may not feel as strongly as Bad Bunny when it comes to the concern of ICE at concerts. “I think Bad Bunny is very clear in his messaging. I feel he’s a genuine and kind person who lives by his morals,” Chakko said.
But despite Bad Bunny’s efforts, the Trump Administration continues to pose a threat to fans, hinting at the possibility of ICE enforcement at the Super Bowl. On The Benny Show, a conservative politics podcast, Corey Lewandowski, a current advisor at the Department of Homeland Security suggested that ICE agents could potentially be present at Levi’s Stadium during the Super Bowl. “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally, not the Super Bowl, and nowhere else,” Lewandowski said. He never explicitly said that ICE agents would be at the game; however, these comments were made just days after Bad Bunny was announced as the headliner.
The last Super Bowl halftime show headlined by Latinx artists was in 2020, with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Now Bad Bunny’s performance is highly anticipated.
“I think it is so powerful for him to be at the Super Bowl, just given how being Hispanic in times like these can be harder and more difficult,” Shiya Reynolds, a sophomore at BHS, said. For Reynolds, this performance is an opportunity. “The Super Bowl halftime show is something so influential, and for him to use his platform to bring awareness to Puerto Rico and awareness to ICE as a whole is huge,” Reynolds added.
On artists such as Bad Bunny advocating for their fans, Reynolds said, “Artists should be able to advocate for their fans when they feel most needed to. But a responsibility makes it feel like a chore and less from the heart. For Bad Bunny, it feels like it comes from the heart.”