Nine unspoken words just proved Bad Bunny was the perfect Super Bowl Halftime show headliner

Nine unspoken words just proved Bad Bunny was the perfect Super Bowl Halftime show headliner

OPINON: In nine words, Bad Bunny proved all his critics wrong and that he was the perfect choice to headline this year's Super Bowl Halftime show.

The best part was he didn't even say them.

The Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, delivered a show today that was equal parts party, power, and a love letter to his Puerto Rican heritage.

Watch the video above.Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, February 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California

The crowning moment was the finale, when Ocasio sang a few bars of his hit song DtMF in chorus with all the dancers, musicians, celebrities and other performers involved in the landmark production.

As he did, nine words lit up a giant screen behind him: "The only thing more powerful than hate is love".

And isn't that a message the US – the world, really – needs to hear right now?

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Ocasio was attacked from all sides from the moment he was announced as the Super Bowl LX Halftime headliner last year, critics branding him an "un-American" choice for the biggest sporting event in the US calendar.

To be clear, Ocasio is a US citizen and was born in a US territory.

But he sings in Spanish, honours his Puerto Rican culture, is proud of his Latino identity, and is visibly non-white, and that painted a target on his back.

Ocasio faced constant criticism in the leadup to his performance today and Turning Point USA, a conservative political organisation formerly led by Charlie Kirk, even went so far as to produce an 'All-American Half-Time Show' to rival his performance.SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: Bad Bunny performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

It would have been easy for Ocasio to hit back in the face of all that hate.

It would have been understandable if, after months of racist attacks, he decided to use his moment on the world stage to turn the hate and the anger back on his critics.

He chose love instead. 

Ocasio's halftime show was unapologetically and joyfully Latino, from the set design, to the dance numbers, costumes, cultural references and the language (the entire performance was in Spanish).Zane Lowe speaks on the meteoric rise of Bad Bunny

It was a love letter to his heritage, his home and his people, from Puerto Rico, to Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and every nation across Latin America, which he gave shoutouts to towards the end of his performance.

"Together, we are America," he said in Spanish, surrounded by people like him, "We're still here."

Ocasio used his halftime performance as a platform to showcase love in the face of hate and I can't think of a message the US needs to hear more right now.

As for the naysayers who are still mad the halftime show was performed in Spanish, I say it's about damn time.

Like Australia, the US has a diverse, multicultural population that speak many languages.

More than one in five people in the US spoke a language other than English at home between 2017 and 2021, according to the US Census Bureau.Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, February 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California

The most common, by and away, was Spanish.

More than 60 per cent of Americans who speak a non-English language speak Spanish and the Hispanic population is the largest minority group in the US.

After decades of performances in English, it seems about time they got a halftime show that represents and caters to them, their language and lived experience.

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