Apparently, there are a lot of people out there who really, really can’t stand the thought of listening to someone sing in Spanish, even for just 10 minutes.
In light of Bad Bunny‘s appointment as the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, Turning Point USA has announced its plans to host an alternate mid-game concert — featuring “anything in English” when it comes to the music.
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The conservative political group founded by late MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk broke the news on Thursday (Oct. 9), sharing a post on X reading, “It’s true, Turning Point USA is thrilled to announce The All American Halftime Show.”
The program is intended to celebrate “faith, family and freedom,” according to a graphic included in the post.
The organization also noted that the show’s performers will be announced “soon,” although it appears as though no artists have actually been booked yet. On the website for the “All American Halftime Show,” there’s a poll asking people to vote for which type of music they’d like to hear come game day on Feb. 8 next year, including country, pop, “worship,” Americana and classic rock, as well as an option the simple says “anything in English.”
Billboard has reached out to Bad Bunny’s rep for comment.
The “anything in English” choice points to the main complaint many MAGA Republicans have expressed online in response to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation selecting Benito to perform at next year’s Super Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif. Many are upset that someone whose music is primarily in Spanish would be asked to headline, while White House advisor Corey Lewandowski recently said it’s “shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much.”
President Donald Trump also fueled the fire by calling Bad Bunny a “ridiculous” choice. “I never heard of him,” the twice-impeached politician said recently. “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy.”
It’s unclear where people may have gotten the notion that Bad Bunny in any way stands in opposition to the U.S. The musician is from Puerto Rico, which is an unincorporated territory of the country. And while Benito did elect to not play any American dates on his upcoming tour, he’s explicitly stated that the choice was not made “out of hate” for the Land of the Free.
“I’ve performed there many times,” he told I-D in September. “All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the U.S. … But there was the issue of, like, f–king ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
As Billboard‘s chief content officer of Latin/Español Leila Cabo points out, however, there is nothing inherently political about Bad Bunny being tapped for halftime.
“As those of us who speak Spanish daily can attest, many still look down on Spanish as a language, and definitely on the people who speak it,” she wrote in a recent op-ed. “Let’s acknowledge that having Bad Bunny headline the Super Bowl is a bold choice — but let’s also be real about the reasons.”
See Turning Point’s announcement below.
