Super Bowl weekend brought more than just football debates—it sparked a cultural firestorm that had nothing to do with touchdowns.
The cohosts of The View showed up to Friday’s episode dressed in sports gear, ready to tackle the controversy surrounding Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance at Super Bowl LX.
While some on the political right organized counter-programming featuring Turning Point USA and Kid Rock, the panel wasn’t having it.
What unfolded was a passionate discussion about business, culture, identity—and what it really means to be American.
Why Bad Bunny Got the Gig
Sara Haines cut straight to the heart of the matter with cold, hard facts.
This is a business model. Nobody’s looking to make moral statements. They picked Bad Bunny because he was the most-streamed artist of 2025 with over 19.8 billion streams.
She emphasized that the NFL made a strategic business decision, not a political statement. Bad Bunny draws massive audiences—plain and simple.
They picked the guy that will draw in the people to watch the halftime show. It’s that simple. It’s not political. The people tuning in know it’s good music. It’s a talented artist.
When Joy Behar questioned whether Bad Bunny might make political statements—referencing his Grammy Awards comments—Haines pushed back powerfully.
His existence is being made political. That’s the point.
Taking Aim at Kid Rock
Alyssa Farah Griffin, the panel’s resident Republican, didn’t mince words about the counter-programming choice.
If you have to pretend Kid Rock is good music, you’re making it political.
The audience erupted in applause. Griffin’s comment highlighted a key irony: those claiming to reject “politics” were making the most political choice possible.
Behar then read Kid Rock’s inflammatory statement about Bad Bunny aloud, noting he criticized having “a dance party wearing a dress and singing in Spanish.”
Kid Rock’s counter-event promised to “play great songs for folks who love America.”
So in other words, if you’re speaking in Spanish and you want to dance, that makes you unAmerican, according to Kid Rock.
Setting the Record Straight
Sunny Hostin delivered what she called a “PSA” for viewers confused about Bad Bunny’s nationality.
So many people have said that they have this foreign act in Bad Bunny performing for halftime, just for a public service announcement for those people, Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
She then pointed out the glaring hypocrisy of those calling Bad Bunny “foreign” while ignoring past halftime performers like Phil Collins, U2, and Coldplay—all from the United Kingdom.
It’s so very racist what’s happening in this country. Let’s call a thing a thing.
Hostin went further, reading lyrics from Kid Rock’s songs that sexualized underage girls, sarcastically noting whether that qualified as “more American.”
The Contrast Couldn’t Be Starker
Griffin continued her critique, predicting Bad Bunny’s performance would become the most-watched halftime show ever despite—or perhaps because of—the controversy.
She didn’t hold back on her assessment of Kid Rock’s musical relevance either.
At the end of the day, like Kid Rock is a very average artist who has mostly kind of gone past his prime. Average might be generous.
Griffin recalled Kid Rock’s performance at the RNC, where even attendees—including the first lady—appeared confused by what they were witnessing.
She dismissed the entire controversy as a complete “waste of energy.”
Why This Actually Is Political
Ana Navarro offered a different perspective, arguing that pretending this isn’t political ignores important context.
Look, yes, it is political. It is political because Bad Bunny is a man… a Latino and a Hispanic who has never shied away from defending his culture, his identity, in his people.
Navarro revealed that Bad Bunny made the deliberate decision not to tour in mainland United States out of concern for his community’s safety.
He feared concerts could become targets for ICE raids and racial profiling—concerns Navarro validated by referencing recent incidents in Minneapolis.
She emphasized that Puerto Ricans have been natural-born U.S. citizens since 1917, making claims about Bad Bunny being “foreign” not just wrong but deeply offensive.
A Moment of Cultural Celebration
Navarro ended with a powerful statement about representation and resilience.
I don’t care what they do. If you want to watch Kid Rock, go at it. If you want to watch the guy with no Grammys instead of the guy with 18 Grammys, go at it. If you want to watch the guy who is hot, Bad Bunny, or the guy who’s not, go at it.
She made clear that counter-programming wouldn’t diminish the significance of this moment for Latino communities.
You’re not going to take one iota of joy away from the Latino community and from everybody in this country who is open to culture, is open to music, is open to having music being unified, and this is such a significant moment for the Latino community that has been under attack, and so we’re going to celebrate it.
The Bottom Line
The View cohosts agreed on several key points, despite their different angles:
- Bad Bunny earned his spot through unprecedented streaming numbers and cultural relevance
- Puerto Ricans are Americans, making “foreign performer” claims factually incorrect
- The controversy reveals deeper issues about who gets considered “authentically American”
- Counter-programming with Kid Rock appears more about political signaling than musical quality
- Cultural celebration shouldn’t be controversial, especially when representing millions of American citizens
The debate highlighted how something as simple as choosing a halftime performer can expose fault lines around identity, belonging, and what “American” really means.
With 18 Grammys, billions of streams, and genuine artistic talent, Bad Bunny represents modern American culture in all its diverse, multilingual, dynamic glory.
Whether critics like it or not, that’s exactly what makes him the perfect choice for Super Bowl LX.