A tabloid love story is the classic hallmark of celebrity life, but for Bad Bunny, his personal life remains off-limits.
The Puerto Rican singer and rapper (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) opened up about maintaining his privacy amid intense media scrutiny during an interview with Rolling Stone published Wednesday. When asked about his dating life, Bad Bunny – who has recently been linked to model and reality-TV star Kendall Jenner – said “the only thing I have is my privacy.”
“I know something is going to come out. I know (people are) going to say something,” Bad Bunny said. “People know everything about me, so what’s left for me to protect? My private life, my personal life.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the “Un Verano Sin Ti” artist discussed recent controversies, including throwing a fan’s cell phone and his upcoming collaboration with rapper Travis Scott.
Here are the biggest revelations from Bad Bunny’s interview.
Bad Bunny was ‘shocked’ by ‘El Apagón’ lyric controversy
In March, Bad Bunny stirred controversy for his comments during an interview with Time magazine that broached topics such as Latin pride and colorism in music.
While speaking to Time about his 2022 song “El Apagón,” a track whose music video tackles the socioeconomic hardships in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny told the magazine the song’s lyric “Ahora todos quieren ser Latino, pero les falta sazon” (“Now everyone wants to be Latino, but they’re missing flavor”) no longer reflected how he felt. “Now that feeling has passed me,” he said at the time.
Addressing the backlash he received for seemingly backtracking on the song’s lyric, Bad Bunny told Rolling Stone his comment in the interview was “taken out of context.”
“When I saw (people saying) that I had regretted writing ‘El Apagón,’ it shocked me, like when did I ever say that in the interview? I would never say that in my…life,” he said. “(The song) was a whole journey, like the process that began with something patriotic, and then the party and the messing around, and later the sentimental part, the conscience in it.
“I always say that’s the life of people in Puerto Rico: We’re proud of being Puerto Rican, we love to celebrate and act like nothing matters, and then we clash against a reality that is often very painful.”
Bad Bunny on ‘obvious’ impact of colorism, feeling ‘rejection’ as a Latino
Bad Bunny’s Time interview also sparked backlash when he spoke about the impact of colorism − discrimination against lighter-skinned people within a racial group − on the success of artists in reggaeton. “Because I haven’t seen it or lived it. I can’t say,” he said at the time. “It’d be irresponsible of me to say yes.”
While reflecting on the remark, Bad Bunny told Rolling Stone he “didn’t want to speak over the experiences of people who have suffered racism,” and discussed his own feelings of alienation as a Latino person.
“I’m Latino, Caribbean, my skin is white,” he said. “I have felt rejection in the U.S., maybe in some places because of being Latino. I’ve felt rejected in a world where there’s a lot of rich people and you could have $100 million in your bank account, and to them, you’re (looked down on) for being Latino.”
He added: “I can’t speak over the experiences of other artists. It’s obvious that racism, colorism exists in all parts of the world, in all industries.”
Bad Bunny says he didn’t throw fan’s phone into the ocean during incident
In the Rolling Stone interview, Bad Bunny reflected on an incident he had with a fan while vacationing in the Dominican Republic in January. He said he was caught off guard when a woman jumped in front of him for a selfie, eventually throwing the fan’s phone away.
“I love going to D.R., so I was waving to everyone, like, ‘Que lo que!’ (‘What’s up!’),” Bad Bunny said. “That person got right on me, leaned directly on my body.”
He added that while he felt bad about his reaction soon after, he said he didn’t throw the fan’s phone into the ocean, contrary to some media reports.
“That cellphone didn’t break. It exists. It bothers me that people haven’t said that,” Bad Bunny said. “I didn’t throw that phone into the water. I threw it into some bushes. … She has it. She should upload the video.”
‘El Apagón’:Bad Bunny debuts music video amid Hurricane Fiona, addressing Puerto Rico’s gentrification
Bad Bunny teases Travis Scott collaboration
Bad Bunny revealed he has recorded a song with rapper Travis Scott. While a release date was not shared, he said the collaboration has been in the works for some time.
“We worked on that a while back — and I think Travis has been working on his project for a minute,” Bad Bunny said.
The singer said he doesn’t have concrete plans for his next solo release: “I don’t know if maybe I’ll release a song (this year) if I like it enough.” But he has a clear vision for his long-term career goals.
“I spend so much time thinking about what I’m going to do next, thinking and creating, imagining things,” Bad Bunny said. “I already know where I’m going.”
More Bad Bunny:Kendall Jenner, Bad Bunny and when your maybe-kind-of-sort-of secret romance gets exposed
Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY
