Bunny slippage

Super Bowl halftime shows used to be so wholesome, and they still should be. There are kids watching, after all.

Which makes one wonder: What was the National Football League thinking by tapping a cross-dressing rapper whose songs contain sexually explicit lyrics to perform at halftime during its showcase event?

Bad Bunny will make his second Super Bowl appearance on Feb. 8 when the NFL’s championship game takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The Grammy-winning singer and producer—whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—made a guest appearance when fellow Latin American stars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performed during the intermission of the 2020 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

At that time, Bad Bunny was a little-known but rapidly rising star on his way to a three-year run from 2020 to 2022 as Spotify’s most streamed artist. And because he sings exclusively in Spanish, many Americans may not be familiar with his work (though Latin American music is apparently exploding in popularity in the United States). I don’t know if I’d have known who Bad Bunny was had the 31-year-old Puerto Rican not endorsed Kamala Harris for president last year.

Of all the things that make Bad Bunny a controversial Super Bowl pick, I don’t mind that he’s an outspoken opponent of President Trump—lots of artists are. I don’t care that he’s opposed to the way ICE is rounding up illegal immigrants—many of them Latin American—to send back to their home countries. It also doesn’t bother me that his music is in Spanish: I enjoy Ritchie Valens’ classic 1950s hit La Bamba despite not fully understanding the lyrics, as well as the works of artists ranging from Freddy Fender to Selena, who have beautifully blended Spanish and English into their songs.

I don’t even care that Bad Bunny sat during the playing of “God Bless America” during a New York Yankees game. I consider that move disrespectful, but he’s free to make it.

What does bother me is that Bad Bunny frequently prances around on stage and in his videos wearing makeup and women’s clothing. There’s even a video in which he dances around in a skimpy, brightly colored sundress that shows off amply sized prosthetic breasts.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Bad Bunny did the same at the Super Bowl. This is the same event where, just last year, headliner Kendrick Lamar performed his song They Not Like Us, in which he implies that fellow rapper Drake might be a pedophile. It’s also the same event at which Justin Timberlake infamously ripped off part of Janet Jackson’s costume in 2004, exposing her bare breast in an occurrence later deemed a “wardrobe malfunction.”

We live in an age where parents are rightfully outraged that drag queens perform before audiences of children at school assemblies and library story hours. There’s even more justifiable moral outrage over children themselves performing in drag shows alongside adults or tipping suggestively clad performers after they’re done gyrating in a sexually suggestive manner. Anyone with a modicum of decency recognizes that these borderline pornographic shows are aimed at grooming children to embrace lifestyles the Bible explicitly condemns. Yet the NFL, which inspires pro football dreams in many a young boy, thinks this is family friendly entertainment.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has defended his league’s decision to have Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl, calling it “carefully thought through.”

“I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism,” Goodell told reporters.

Apparently, Goodell missed the memo: There’s a reason why corporate entities no longer engage in rainbow-themed marketing campaigns during the month of June and LGBTQ groups are canceling Pride parades due to lack of corporate sponsorships. Americans are done with having sexually graphic entertainment shoved down our collective throats in the name of tolerance and being branded bigots for saying so.

Which is why I’m thankful that Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk (God rest his soul), is presenting “The All American Halftime Show” as an alternative to Bad Bunny’s NFL-sanctioned performance. Despite media speculation, TPUSA has not confirmed which artists will perform at the show. But the organization promises that the show, consistent with its values, will celebrate “Faith, Family, and Freedom.” And I don’t think TPUSA would dishonor Kirk’s memory by doing anything to the contrary—especially not with his beloved widow, Erika, now in charge.

In September, Kirk’s admirers filled the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, as well as a nearby former National Hockey League venue, to celebrate those very things in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. The NFL doesn’t need controversial performers to attract eyeballs to the Super Bowl’s halftime show. Because the Super Bowl is one of America’s few nationally unifying annual events, the league can—and should—attract viewers with things that don’t alienate the vast majority of Americans.

Wholesomeness is making a comeback. The NFL needs to get on board pronto to avoid getting hit by the train.