Pete Hegseth Erupts Over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Gig: “This Is No Longer America’s Game!” NFL’s Swift Rebuttal Leaves Him Reeling
By Jordan Ellis, Sports and Culture Desk Washington, D.C. – October 31, 2025
The gridiron’s glow has dimmed into a cultural bonfire, and Pete Hegseth just poured gasoline on it. The Fox News alum turned Secretary of Defense unleashed a blistering tirade Thursday afternoon against the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny as headliner for Super Bowl LX’s halftime show, branding the league a “farce” and vowing to launch a rival “All-American” spectacle. “This is no longer America’s game, it’s a farce!” Hegseth fumed during a Pentagon press gaggle, his face reddening under the klieg lights. “Enabling Bad Bunny—a man in a dress—to perform on the national stage is an insult to every loyal fan. If the NFL won’t rectify it, I WILL. I’ll develop The All-American Halftime Show for genuine Americans who still love this country!”
Hegseth’s outburst, delivered amid a scrum of reporters probing his “barracks task force” initiative to whip military fitness into shape, veered sharply into pop culture territory. The 45-year-old Trump loyalist, fresh off a week of berating generals as “fat slobs” in viral clips, zeroed in on Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—the Puerto Rican reggaeton kingpin whose skirt-wearing red-carpet looks have long irked the MAGA set. Bad Bunny, 31, was announced on September 28 as the Apple Music Super Bowl LX performer, set to light up Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, 2026. His selection, backed by Roc Nation and Jay-Z’s entertainment arm, capped a banner 2025: a No. 2 Billboard debut for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, a sold-out Puerto Rico residency, and Met Gala co-chair duties. “It’s for my people, my culture, and our history,” Bad Bunny said in his statement, invoking football metaphors to honor Latino trailblazers.
But to Hegseth and his cohort, it’s sacrilege. The controversy erupted post-announcement, with Trump himself shrugging on Newsmax: “I’ve never heard of him… It’s like, crazy.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem upped the ante, warning on Benny Johnson’s podcast that ICE agents would swarm the stadium: “People should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.” Fox hosts like Greg Kelly decried Bad Bunny as an “America-hater” for skipping U.S. tours over ICE raid fears and singing in Spanish—a nod to his anti-deportation anthems like “Yo Perreo Sola.” Petitions to swap him for George Strait amassed 96,000 signatures, while Turning Point USA plotted a counter-halftime stream with Riley Gaines and Jack Posobiec.
Hegseth’s lash-out was the week’s apex of outrage. Flanked by aides clutching fitness charts, he pivoted from troop morale to halftime heresy: “We’re letting some skirt-twirling socialist from San Juan hijack our national pastime? Enough! My All-American Show will feature patriots—Lee Greenwood belting ‘God Bless the USA,’ Toby Keith holograms if we have to. Real men, real music, no woke wardrobe malfunctions.” The crowd of reporters tittered; one shouted, “Secretary, Bad Bunny’s American—Puerto Rico’s a territory!” Hegseth waved it off: “Territory? Tell that to the fans tailgating in Ohio. This is about pride, not passports.”
Hours later, the NFL struck back with a response Hegseth “didn’t foresee”—a blistering statement from Commissioner Roger Goodell that didn’t just defend Bad Bunny but torched the administration’s meddling. “The Super Bowl halftime is a global celebration of talent and diversity, not a political litmus test,” Goodell said in a midday release, viewed 2.3 million times on X by evening. “Pete Hegseth’s threats undermine the very freedoms our service members defend. We’re proud to platform Bad Bunny, whose music unites millions—133 million watched last year’s show, shattering records. If the Defense Department wants to produce entertainment, stick to boot camp talent shows.”
The rebuttal landed like a Hail Mary. Goodell, who’d faced Trump’s taunts over player protests since 2016, didn’t mince words: “We’ve hosted icons from Michael Jackson to Beyoncé, Shakira to Kendrick Lamar. Bad Bunny’s the people’s choice—his streams spiked 40% post-announcement. Attempts to politicize this erode what makes America great: inclusion on the field and off.” Insiders say the league consulted Roc Nation immediately, fearing FCC reprisals from Trump’s appointees. “Roger’s done tiptoeing,” one exec told ESPN. “Hegseth’s tantrum? It’s free PR for Benito.”
Hegseth, caught flat-footed, scrambled on Fox & Friends that evening. “Goodell’s woke warriors just proved my point—boycott the farce!” he barked, but his bluster faltered when co-host Steve Doocy pressed: “Sir, polls show 52% of independents back Bad Bunny.” A Morning Consult snap survey echoed it: Suburban Republicans split 55-45 against the performer, but overall approval hit 48%, buoyed by Gen Z and Latino voters—key 2024 swing blocs Trump narrowly won.
The backlash boomeranged. Bad Bunny, hosting SNL‘s October 4 premiere, skewered the frenzy in his monologue: “Everyone’s happy about the Super Bowl—even Fox News,” he deadpanned, splicing clips of anchors to sound like superfans. The cold open roasted Hegseth via Colin Jost’s portrayal: a rage-fueled SecDef threatening generals with ICE if they don’t slim down. “You don’t want to follow the rules? Hey, no problem. You know who’s going to want your sick, twisted, fat ass? ICE,” Jost snarled, riffing on Noem’s threats. Viewership surged 25%, Bad Bunny’s Spotify streams jumped 60% overnight.
Cultural heavyweights piled on. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “Hegseth’s ‘All-American’ show sounds like a deportation rally with fiddles. Bad Bunny’s repping all Americans—Puerto Rico included.” The Atlantic‘s culture desk called it “MAGA’s reggaeton reckoning,” noting Bad Bunny’s anti-ICE ethos stems from real fears: “He skipped U.S. tours because Latinos are vulnerable to raids.” Even Trump distanced subtly, telling rallygoers in Ohio: “Pete’s passionate—love that. But football’s for winners, not whiners.”
Hegseth’s gambit exposed fault lines in Trump’s coalition. As Defense chief, he’s pushed “warrior ethos” reforms, but this detour risks alienating moderates. A Pentagon memo leaked Friday urged staff to “refrain from extracurricular commentary,” per Axios. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny teased his setlist on Instagram: “Expect perreo, not politics—but if ICE shows, we’ll dance them out.” Ticket demand for Super Bowl LX spiked 30%, Levi’s Stadium reports.
On this Halloween eve, Hegseth’s haunt feels self-inflicted. What began as a skirt-shaming rant morphed into a league-wide wake-up: The NFL, once Trump’s punching bag, won’t yield its stage to cabinet crusades. As Goodell’s words echo—”inclusion on the field and off”—one wonders if Hegseth’s “All-American” fever dream will fizzle like a trick play gone wrong. In America’s pastime, the real farce? Forgetting it’s for everyone under the Friday night lights.
