The Super Bowl halftime show has never been just about football. It’s a reflection of who America thinks it is — and who it’s trying to be. But this week, that mirror cracked again when a petition surfaced demanding that Bad Bunny be replaced by country legend George Strait for the 2026 show.
The petition claims the halftime performance should “unite our country, honor American culture, and remain family-friendly,” arguing that Bad Bunny “represents none of these values.” It goes on to slam the Puerto Rican megastar’s gender-fluid fashion and history of drag performance — the kind of coded language that always pretends to be about “family” but often reeks of something else.
More than 35,000 people have already signed the call to swap Bunny for Strait, 73, the cowboy crooner who hasn’t exactly been a mainstay of mainstream pop for decades. It’s nostalgia dressed up as morality — a demand for comfort, tradition, and a past that never really existed.
But here’s the truth: Bad Bunny’s brand of chaos is American culture now — loud, diverse, unapologetically hybrid. The kind of show women will happily watch with their men because it’s sexy, kinetic, and alive. It’s the sound of the present, not a sepia photograph of the past.
And history backs that up. Think of Beyoncé’s politically charged spectacle in 2016, Lady Gaga’s high-wire patriotism the following year, Jay-Z’s fingerprints all over the modern reinvention of the show itself, Rihanna’s return to the stage while pregnant, or Shakira and Jennifer Lopez bringing Latin fire to the world’s biggest audience. Each performance pushed the boundaries of who gets to stand on that stage — and what “American music” really means.
The decision may sit with Jay-Z, Roc Nation, and the NFL, but the message is already clear: the halftime show has always been a reflection of its era. The question now is whether 2026 will look forward — or retreat into the safety of the past.
Last modified: October 21, 2025
