Danica Patrick Slams NFL Over Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show
The ex-racing star ignites backlash after saying English-only songs should be required at America’s biggest TV event.
Los Angeles, Oct 2 EST: The NFL probably thought it was scoring easy points when it announced Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl LX halftime headliner. Instead, it got a whole new plot twist: Danica Patrick, former NASCAR star turned commentator, is suddenly the unlikely face of halftime-show outrage.
Danica vs. Bad Bunny: How We Got Here
The setup was straightforward. Over the weekend, the league confirmed that Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio the global reggaeton and trap superstar most fans know as Bad Bunny would take center stage at the 2026 Super Bowl. It was a flex. He’s Spotify’s most streamed artist of the past three years, his stadium tours are economy-size juggernauts, and he’s one of the few performers who can hop between wrestling rings, Marvel cameos, and Met Gala carpets without blinking.
But Patrick wasn’t clapping. In a now-viral post on X, she fired:
“Oh fun. No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest-rated television events of the year … not just for sports.”
She then doubled down by resharing a post calling the Puerto Rican rapper a “demonic Marxist.” That was enough to light the fuse.
The Backlash Arrives in Seconds
Sports Twitter and pop-culture Twitter rarely unite, but Patrick’s post managed the impossible: both sides pounced. Critics accused her of missing the point that Puerto Rico is U.S. territory, that Spanish is part of the American story, and that English-only demands feel out of step with the way music works in 2025.
Fans piled on with side-by-side stats. Bad Bunny has more global streams than nearly any English-language artist. He’s headlined Coachella, sold out Yankee Stadium, and charted with Drake, Cardi B, and even country star Morgan Wallen. As one user put it: “If America can cheer Shakira and J.Lo shaking a stadium, it can handle a few verses in Spanish.”
Why This Halftime Matters
Super Bowl halftime shows are never just halftime shows. They’re cultural weather reports. J.Lo and Shakira’s 2020 performance drew praise for Latin pride and pearl-clutching from conservative corners. The Weeknd’s pandemic-era spectacle sparked memes more than applause. Rihanna turned her halftime into a pregnancy reveal that broke the internet.
Bad Bunny’s slot was always going to be a flashpoint. He’s not just a Latin artist; he’s the Latin artist, unbothered about fitting into English pop molds. His presence signals the NFL trying to catch up with what the rest of the world already knows: Spanish-language music isn’t niche anymore. It’s chart-dominating, club-filling, playlist-anchoring pop.
That Patrick’s critique zeroed in on language makes the story feel bigger than sports. It touches on identity, on what “American” entertainment looks like, and on who gets to represent it on the single most-watched night of television each year.
The NFL Isn’t Flinching
For its part, the NFL seems happy to ride the wave. Executives have framed Bad Bunny as one of the rare artists with both global and cross-generational appeal. And honestly? They’re not wrong. Gen Z has him on repeat. Millennials have already seen him live. Even Gen Alpha TikToks to his hooks without knowing they’re in Spanish.
The backlash, if anything, gives the league what it loves most: attention. Last year’s Usher-led halftime had big nostalgia, but not much noise. Bad Bunny brings both.
The Real Audience Here
Patrick’s comments will keep trending a few more days, but when February arrives, it won’t be tweets on screen. It’ll be the visual of 70,000 fans in Santa Clara bouncing to “Tití Me Preguntó.” It’ll be Instagram feeds full of dancers, outfits, and cameos. And it’ll be a halftime show that like it or not reflects what pop looks like right now: borderless, bilingual, and way bigger than the old English-only playbook.
At some level, Patrick knows that too. NASCAR, after all, has struggled for years to stay relevant with younger, more diverse fans. The NFL just made the opposite bet.
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A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
