Roger Goodell addresses possibility of another Bad Bunny message at the Super Bowl

While Bad Bunny used part of his Grammy acceptance moment on Sunday evening to criticise the intensified actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nationwide, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has suggested he is not anticipating a repeat of that message on Super Bowl Sunday.

Speaking during a pre Super Bowl media briefing on Monday February 2, Goodell was posed a two part query. He was asked whether ICE agents would be present at Super Bowl related events around San Francisco or inside Levi’s Stadium on game day, and whether he believed Bad Bunny might echo the same anti ICE message from his Grammys speech during the halftime show.

After noting that security around the game would match the usual standards seen every year, Goodell told reporters that the Super Bowl was not the place for messages that divide audiences, adding that he felt Bad Bunny was aware of that responsibility.

“Bad Bunny – I think it was demonstrated last night – is one of the greatest artists in the world,” Goodell said of Bunny, who picked up three new Grammy Awards on Sunday night, including album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. “That’s one of the reasons we chose him. But the other reason is that he understood the platform he was on. This platform is used to unite people, to be able to bring people together with their creativity and their talents and to be able to use this moment to do that. And I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”

During his first appearance on stage at Sunday’s Grammys broadcast, when accepting best música urbana album for DTMF, Bunny opened his remarks by drawing attention to the “ICE Out” slogan displayed on black and white pins worn by dozens of artists throughout the night.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE Out!” he declared as the room gave him a standing ovation. “We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we are not aliens; we are humans and we are Americans. I know it’s tough not to hate on these days. … The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them. We love our people, we love our family, and that’s the way to do it. We love. That’s the way to do it. Thank God, and thanks to the academy.”