NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke following Donald Trump's criticism of Grammy-winning artist and slated Super Bowl performer Bad Bunny at the 2025 fall owners meetings
14:51 ET, 22 Oct 2025Updated 14:56 ET, 22 Oct 2025
Roger Goodell
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Roger Goodell has been the NFL commissioner since 2006(Image: Getty Images)
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke glowingly of Super Bowl halftime performer Bad Bunny after the 31-year-old artist faced backlash from President Donald Trump and other prominent conservative figures.
Bad Bunny is a three-time Grammy winner and the most-streamed artist on Spotify in October 2025. He is a US citizen by way of Puerto Rico, where he performed a 31-day residency after admitting he's not comfortable performing in the United States.
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Goodell, one to typically quash a controversy, admitted the halftime performance was "carefully thought through" when speaking at the NFL's fall owners meeting. The longtime commissioner added that he's "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."
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Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, has one of the largest social media platforms in the world, boasting over 50 million followers on Instagram and a further 35 million on TikTok. He will perform entirely in Spanish.
"What I'm feeling goes beyond myself," Bad Bunny said in a statement after the announcement. "It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history."
Goodell seemed happy to have him on board. “He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world," Goodell stated."That’s what we try to achieve. It’s an important stage for us. It’s an important element to the entertainment value."
Bad Bunny
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Bad Bunny completed an epic 31-day concert tour in Puerto Rico over the summer(Image: Getty Images)
Shortly after Bad Bunny was named as the headliner in Apple Music's halftime show — set for Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California (home of the San Francisco 49ers) — Trump claimed he never heard of the performer.
"I don't know who he is," he said on Newsmax. "I don't know why they're doing it. It's, like, crazy. And then they blame it on the promoter they hired to provide entertainment. I think it's absolutely ridiculous." Newsmax host Grey Kelly took it a step further. He insisted that Bad Bunny "hates America."
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At a Trump campaign rally last October, comedian Kill Tony made a series of offensive jokes about Puerto Rico.
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"There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.," he said, prompting backlash from a series of prominent politicians.
Bad Bunny's song "La Canacion" currently has over 2.2 billion plays on Spotify.