NFL chief Roger Goodell defends Bad Bunny headlining Super Bowl halftime show

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has defended the decision to chose Bad Bunny as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show headliner.

The Puerto Rican rapper was announced as the headliner at next year's NFL showpiece in a move that has attracted criticism from US President Donald Trump and other conservatives but Goodell is confident that the Latin superstar will deliver a "great show".

Goodell said at NFL league meetings on Wednesday (22.10.25): "It's carefully thought through.

"I'm not sure we've ever selected an artist where we didn't have some blowback or criticism. It's pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching... We're confident it's going to be a great show.

"He understands the platform that he's on, and I think it's going to be exciting and a united moment."

Goodell explained that Bad Bunny - who performs primarily in Spanish - had been selected to play the Super Bowl as he is one of the planet's "leading" entertainers.

The NFL chief said: "He's one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world. That's what we try to achieve. It's an important stage for us. It's an important element to the entertainment value."

The decision was met with a backlash by Trump and his allies after Bad Bunny refused to take his world tour to the US amid concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could harm fans at his gigs.

The US President suggested recently that it was "absolutely ridiculous" for Bad Bunny to perform at the Super Bowl and suggested that he had never heard of the artist.