Popular Culture

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Watch the Pacific Northwest Ballet celebrate the Seattle Seahawks being in the Super Bowl

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— ex-Lethality Jane (@lethalityjane.bsky.social) February 6, 2026 at 12:09 AM

The Super Bowl halftime show, with Bad Bunny showcasing Latin music before a global television audience expected to top 100 million, will illustrate the nation’s immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star delivers an explicit political message.

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— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) February 7, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Worth a read, even if you’re not interested in football — “The enthusiasm — and scorn — surrounding Bad Bunny’s star turn at the Super Bowl” [gift link]:

Puerto Rican native Ray Sanchez generally supports President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. But at a Super Bowl party Sunday, the 60-year-old auto industry consultant will be rooting for the latest target of their culture war: Bad Bunny, the superstar headlining the halftime show.

Sanchez called his fellow Puerto Rican’s chance to showcase Latin music on the NFL’s biggest stage an extraordinary triumph for a U.S. territory whose people have struggled to win the same rights as other American citizens. Never mind that some conservatives are boycotting the performance over his outspoken politics and criticism of Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.

“Being against Bad Bunny is absurd,” said Sanchez, who expects hundreds to attend the party in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital. “There is no one in music who has gone as far as he has in promoting our culture.”

The halftime show in Santa Clara, California, before a global television audience expected to top 100 million, is an opportunity for the 31-year-old artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, to go even further. Across the country, Latino fans say they are anticipating a raucous performance that celebrates their immigrant heritage and provides a moment of joy and emotional release at a time when many in their communities are living in fear of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation…

Even if Bad Bunny doesn’t use the stage to explicitly condemn Trump’s deportation campaign, the dueling shows will highlight the nation’s deep divide over immigration, and his performance is likely to be viewed through that lens…

Bad Bunny’s music, including “Debí Tirar Mas Fotos,” which this week became the first Spanish-language recording to win the Grammy award for best album, is layered in political commentary and symbolism about Puerto Rico’s second-tier status as a longtime Spanish colony and now U.S. territory, and the struggles of its people to overcome it.

But it was Bad Bunny’s defiant, two-word statement at the Grammys — “ICE out” — that thrust him into the inflamed national debate over the aggressive tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And his dedication of the award to immigrants who “leave their home, land, their country, to follow their dreams” stood as an implicit rebuke of the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The progressive Working Families Party is holding Super Bowl viewing parties in Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California in support of Bad Bunny. Nelini Stamp, the group’s national director of strategy, said the goal is to raise awareness among Latinos about actions they can take to combat the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, including lobbying Congress to limit ICE’s funding…

The enthusiasm of Bad Bunny’s fans has been met with equal amounts of disdain from Trump supporters who have accused the nation’s most popular sports league of catering to liberals, and denigrated Bad Bunny for singing in Spanish and not representing their vision of American values. Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren falsely suggested he is not a U.S. citizen, even though people born in Puerto Rico have automatic citizenship. One Million Moms, a Christian group, announced a boycott of his performance over his support of LGBTQ+ rights.

“We want to celebrate America; we do not want to crap on it,” Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet said, previewing the organization’s alternative halftime event on “The Charlie Kirk Show.” “When the other guys are doing their queer celebration, speaking Spanish — whatever you want to do, that’s fine — but we’re going to be celebrating this country.”…

This year, the Puppy Bowl isn’t just about puppies. Older dogs are getting some attention, too.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) February 7, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Especially for our beloved Betty Cracker:

Some special visitors to the CNN campus today to help kick off Puppy Bowl XXII

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— Shawn Reynolds (@shawnreynolds.bsky.social) February 4, 2026 at 1:48 PM

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