Bad Bunny Super Bowl Performance Highlights How Values and Biases Fuel Misinformation

Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks Cultural Conversation, Reveals Information Consumption Patterns

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX Halftime Show has emerged as a cultural touchstone that transcends mere entertainment, sparking widespread debate across social media platforms and messaging apps. The performance, which made no attempt to explain, translate, or tone itself down, quickly became a mirror reflecting viewers’ own cultural perspectives and political leanings.

The Puerto Rican reggaeton star’s 15-minute set prompted wildly divergent interpretations. For many Latino viewers, it represented a moment of cultural celebration and recognition on America’s biggest entertainment stage. For others, the predominantly Spanish-language performance was viewed through a politically charged lens, with some critics characterizing it as divisive or unpatriotic.

Social media reactions to the show have revealed how deeply personal biases and identity shape information consumption. Research from the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) indicates these factors are primary drivers of how individuals engage with both information and misinformation online.

Misinterpretations spread rapidly in the aftermath. Some viewers mistakenly believed Bad Bunny’s “Ocasio 64” jersey symbolized support for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rather than recognizing it as a reference to the artist’s birth name, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and his birth year. Similarly, false claims circulated that a child on stage was “Liam Conejo Ramos,” a fabrication that gained traction despite having no basis in reality.

For Latino audiences across various backgrounds—Mexican, Dominican, Brazilian, Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan, Central American and Caribbean—the performance resonated differently but shared a common thread of cultural recognition. Many viewers connected with elements that reminded them of personal experiences: dance floors from childhood, summer gatherings with family, or the soundtrack of everyday life. On TikTok, users shared nostalgic connections to the music, with one commenting about “dance floors they grew up falling asleep on” and others reminiscing about “summer nights” accompanied by these familiar sounds.

The backlash against the performance seems less about specific provocative elements and more about encountering unfamiliar cultural expressions on a mainstream American platform. For some viewers, the predominant use of Spanish registered as defiant or exclusionary, while others saw the same performance as liberating or celebratory. The choreography itself became a Rorschach test, with interpretations ranging from artistic expression to inappropriate display.

Bad Bunny’s authentic presentation—performing largely in Spanish without pausing to translate or contextualize cultural references—allowed viewers to project their own meanings onto the spectacle. This dynamic exposed how quickly audiences fill interpretive gaps with their own assumptions, and how readily these interpretations can transform into misinformation when shared across social platforms.

The halftime show ultimately served as a powerful demonstration of contemporary information consumption patterns. Rather than prescribing specific viewpoints, it revealed existing divides in how Americans process cultural expressions that fall outside their personal experience. The disparate reactions highlight how entertainment can inadvertently become a battleground for larger cultural conversations about identity, language, and belonging in American society.

This pattern mirrors broader challenges in today’s information ecosystem, where the same content can be interpreted radically differently based on viewers’ pre-existing beliefs and cultural frameworks. As social media continues to fragment audiences into distinct cultural and ideological bubbles, shared experiences like the Super Bowl halftime show provide rare windows into how differently Americans can perceive the same event.