Super Bowl LX halftime performer Bad Bunny took shots at the Trump administration as he accepted three Grammy awards including Album of the Year on Sunday night, one week before he will take the stage in Santa Clara.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out,” Bad Bunny began his speech after winning Best Música Arbana Album for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
The Puerto Rican artist—who largely sings in Spanish—has been a target of conservatives since the NFL first named him the halftime performer in September. Trump called the choice “absolutely ridiculous,” and group Turning Point USA said it would plan “The All-American Halftime Show,” which allowed fans to vote for “Anything in English” from a list of music styles. (Turning Point has said little about how its show will actually happen.) NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has repeatedly backed Bad Bunny, and the NFL added another Trump critic, the band Green Day, to perform at the game’s opening ceremony. Goodell will surely be asked about the rapper’s comments at his annual Super Bowl press conference Monday night in Santa Clara.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks following its actions in Minneapolis. The high-profile killing of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 prompted backlash from major athletes and sports organizations, including the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and several WNBA players. The masked agents who killed Pretti were both from Customs and Border Patrol, another DHS agency, ProPublica reported Sunday. (The Trump administration had not previously released the names of the agents.)
Several other artists including Justin Bieber and Joni Mithcell wore “ICE Out” pins at the Grammys on Sunday.
“The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love,” said Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. “So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”
It’s been widely speculated whether Bad Bunny, who has criticized ICE in the past, will make a similar statement at the Super Bowl. He did not take his last tour to the continental U.S. for fear of ICE actions at his shows; instead, he staged a months-long residency in Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory.
While accepting Album of the Year later in the evening, Bad Bunny spoke mostly in Spanish to thank his family, fans, and the Latino community. He briefly switched to English: “I want to dedicate this award to all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams.”
Trump posted on his Truth Social site that the Grammys are “the WORST” and “virtually unwatchable,” and threatened to sue host Trevor Noah for a joke about Jeffrey Epstein. He did not mention Bad Bunny or other anti-ICE protests.
Trump said he will not attend the Super Bowl, which last year cost the Secret Service more than $120,000, saying the game is too far for him to travel. He also complained about the musical lineup of Bad Bunny and Green Day. “I’m anti-them,” he told the New York Post last month. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred.”
