The Grammy winner is in the running to add another accolade to his long list of accomplishments.

Bad Bunny scores Emmy nomination for Super Bowl halftime show after sparking conservative outrage

The Grammy winner is in the running to add another accolade to his long list of accomplishments.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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July 8, 2026 12:06 p.m. ET

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Bad Bunny performs during the Super Bowl LX halftime show on Feb. 8, 2026. Credit:

Chris Graythen/Getty

- Bad Bunny has earned an Emmy nomination for his 13-minute performance for Apple Music’s Super Bowl halftime show in February.

- The nod is the first ever for the Puerto Rican singer-rapper, whose set featured several tracks from his Grammy-winning LP, *DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.*

- At the time, Bad Bunny faced criticism from several conservative talking heads, including President Donald Trump, for performing songs from his mostly Spanish-language catalog.

It continues to be a banner year for Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as one Bad Bunny, thanks to the 2026 Emmy Awards.

The singer-rapper can now add Emmy nominee to his many list of accomplishments after earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for his epic Super Bowl halftime show back in February. His performance is going up against the 83rd Golden Globes, the 68th Grammy Awards, the 78th Tony Awards, and the Oscars.

It’s no surprise that Bad Bunny’s history-making headlining of the Super Bowl LX halftime show made the cut for Emmy nominees considering it was undeniably one for the ages. The performance saw the musical sensation portray his heritage tied to the United States territory and its capital city of San Juan, transporting attendees at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and the millions watching at home back to the sunny shores of Bayamón, with a thumping casita full of dancers.

The performance featured a bevy of celebrity cameos from Pedro Pascal and Cardi B, and surprise songs from Lady Gaga and fellow Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin.

Bad Bunny performs at the Apple Music halftime show during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026.

Todd Rosenberg/Getty

The “NUEVAYoL” rapper and singer performed a medley of hits starting with his 2022 single, “Tití Me Preguntó,” before scaling on top of a casita that looked similar to the one featured in his celebrated Puerto Rico residency in order to perform “Yo Perreo Sola,” “Safaera,” “Party,” and “Voy a Llevarte Pa’ PR.”

Along the way, he also incorporated several nods to other Puerto Rican superstars, throwing in Tego Calderón’s 2002 hit “Pa’ Que Retozen,” as well as Don Omar’s 2003 single, “Dale Don Dale.”

He rounded out his stellar performance with two more songs from his Grammy-winning album, *DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS:* “CAFé CON RON” and “*DtMF.*“

At one point, a Jumbotron behind Bad Bunny read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” The message was clear and pointed. He punctuated his rallying cry for unity and community by spiking a football, the words “Together, We Are America” emblazoned on it, and declaring in Spanish, “My homeland, Puerto Rico, we are still here.”

Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show reminds us what America really is

House Republicans call for investigation into Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show over 'widespread twerking, grinding, pelvic thrusts'

Of course, the celebration of music and culture wasn’t without its detractors.

When Bad Bunny was tapped to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in September 2025, the announcement sparked backlash from conservative politicians and commentators, who criticized the NFL for selecting the six-time Grammy winner because he performs primarily in Spanish and has spoken out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Donald Trump was a particularly vocal critic of the singer headlining the annual event, pushing back against the performance and calling it an “affront to the greatness of America,”

After the show, Trump disparaged the set on social media, writing that the “Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” and stating that “it makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.” (Bad Bunny and the residents of Puerto Rico are American citizens.)

Republican lawmakers even asked officials to look into the performance, with one, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), calling it “pure smut” that he claimed was “illegal to be displayed on public airways.”

Bad Bunny performs at the Apple Music halftime show during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026.

Kevin Sabitus/Getty

In anticipation of the Spanish-language set by Bad Bunny, conservative organization Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk, mounted its own counter-programming titled the “All-American Halftime Show.” The event included a headlining performance by Kid Rock, who also criticized Bad Bunny, and drew approximately 6 million concurrent viewers to the live stream.

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny’s performance set a new global viewership record, with more than 4 billion people watching, according to a report from the NFL, Roc Nation (which produced the show), and Apple Music. The performance garnered 4.157 billion views in 24 hours, including the global broadcast numbers, as well as views on YouTube and social media platforms.

That puts the Puerto Rican musician among the most-watched Super Bowl halftime shows in history.

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The Super Bowl also had a knock-on effect; the week after the big game, Bad Bunny saw his song “DtMF” top the Billboard Hot 100, marking his first solo No. 1 on the chart, per *Rolling Stone*. His album, *DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS*, also returned to the top of the *Billboard *200 Albums chart.

Watch Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in full on the NFL’s YouTube.

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will air for Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE, airing live coast-to-coast on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

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Source: “EW Emmys”