NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t expect Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance to take a political turn Sunday when the Grammy-winning artist takes the stage.
Goodell addressed the matter Monday night when he spoke with reporters six days ahead of the Super Bowl and a day after Bad Bunny called out ICE during his Grammy speech.
The NFL commissioner said he expects the music sensation to unite the crowd and not divide when he performs at Levi’s Stadium.
“Bad Bunny, and I think that was demonstrated last night, is one of the great artists in the world,” Goodell said. “That’s one of the reasons we chose him. But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on and that this platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that.
“I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands it and I think he’ll have a great performance.”
Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl has been a lightning rod since he was announced, with conservatives expressing anger over the NFL’s decision to have him perform.
Turning Point USA even announced it would be holding its own halftime show to counter the league’s programming, with Kid Rock serving as the headliner.
According to an anonymous player survey conducted by The Athletic, 58.6 percent of NFL players surveyed liked the pick of Bad Bunny for the halftime show and 41.1 percent did not like it.
Bad Bunny opened his album of the year speech at the Grammys on Sunday by blasting ICE, saying “ICE out” and that “we are not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens.”
“We are humans and we are Americans. I know it’s tough not to hate these days,” he said. “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”