“Foul ball magnet” is a new title for Bad Bunny. The 31-year-old Puerto Rican superstar added it to his growing list of accomplishments. On Tuesday, October 7th, he was at Yankee Stadium. He sat right behind home plate for Game 3 of the ALDS. It was the New York Yankees playing against the Toronto Blue Jays. In the second inning, a foul ball shot up from Toronto’s Anthony Santander. It flew into the night sky. Then, it dropped right into Bad Bunny’s lap. He just smiled. He held the ball up, and the crowd roared. Fans couldn’t believe their luck.
One fan on X, formerly Twitter, put it best. They wrote, “Even baseballs want to collaborate with him now 😎🎤.” While catching a foul ball was a lighthearted moment, Bad Bunny’s week has been anything but calm. In fact, it’s been quite a whirlwind.
The Grammy winner finds himself caught in a political storm. This happened after he was chosen to perform at the Super Bowl LX halftime show. His selection brought both cheers and strong arguments.
Former President Donald Trump spoke out against the decision. He shared his thoughts in an interview with Newsmax on Monday, October 6th. “I’ve never heard of him,” Trump said. “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy.” He also added, “Then they blame some promoter they hired for entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, fueled the fire even more. She told conservative commentator Benny Johnson on Friday, October 3rd, that ICE agents “will be all over” the Super Bowl. Noem explained her view. “I have a duty to make sure everyone at the Super Bowl can enjoy it and leave safely,” she said. “That’s what America is about.” She continued, “Yes, we will be all over that place. We will enforce the law.”
Noem didn’t stop there. She added, “I believe no one should come to the Super Bowl unless they are law-abiding Americans who love this country.” She also slammed the NFL itself. Noem stated plainly that the league “stinks.” She argued, “God will bless us, and we’ll stand strong and proud. The NFL won’t be able to sleep at night. They don’t know what they believe in. They are so weak, and we are going to fix it.”
Bad Bunny wasted no time responding to the outcry. He spoke up during his Saturday Night Live monologue that weekend. “I’m very happy, and I think everyone is happy with it,” he joked. “Even Fox News.” He then switched to Spanish for a moment. He continued, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.” Later in the show, he took on a more serious tone. Speaking in Spanish, he declared, “Our footprints and contributions in this country, no one will ever be able to remove or erase them.”
A big part of this Super Bowl halftime debate stems from an interview Bad Bunny gave. He spoke to i-D Magazine on September 10th. In it, he explained why he had recently stopped performing in the United States. “There were many reasons I didn’t go to the United States,” he shared. “None of them were because of hate. I have performed there many times. All the concerts have been successful.” He then added, “But there was the issue that, for example, damn ICE could be outside my concert. And it’s something we talked about, and it worried us a lot.”
Despite all the arguments, Jennifer Lopez threw her support behind the choice. She spoke about it during an interview on the Today show. This was on Monday, October 6th. Lopez said, “I think he’s going to blow everyone away.” She also added, “It’s an an introduction for some people.”