Bad Bunny helped Saturday Night Live kick off its 51st season on Oct. 4 and took time to address conservative critics of his upcoming 2026 Super Bowl Halftime performance.

Bad Bunny Columbia Pictures "Caught Stealing" New York Premiere
Source: John Nacion / Getty

Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took to the stage in NY for the first time since making the decision not to bring his massively popular concert tour to US cities due to the threat of ICE raids. He used the show’s platform to address the rampant racism and ignorance that followed his historic Super Bowl announcement.

“You may not know but I’m doing the Super Bowl Halftime show and I’m very happy,” he said. “And I think everyone is very happy about it, even Fox News. No, but really I am very excited to be doing the Super Bowl and I know that people all around the world, who love my music, are also happy.”

He continued, in Spanish, saying,

“Especially for all Latinos and Latinas around the world, and for those here in the U.S. for every person who has worked hard and opened doors for others. This achievement is not only mine, it is a shared accomplishment that demonstrates the legacy and contributions we have made in this country something that no one can take away or erase. And if you didn’t understand that, you have four months to learn.”

Heard you, señor!

It was also the first time in the show’s history that a performer closed a season and then was brought back to help open the next, NBC News reports. Bad Bunny has appeared on the show three other times with his first appearance being in 2020; however, his latest hosting duties seemed to send a big message to detractors that he has no plans to relent to the onslaught of negativity.

During a podcast appearance, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stoked the flames of division around Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance saying that ICE Agents would be “all over” the big game festivities to make arrests, NBC News reports. This followed President Trump‘s impassioned response to the announcement in which he called the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny “shameful.” Trump’s advisor, Corey Lewandowski, also had choice words for the league during an appearance on the The Benny Show where he echoed Noem’s threats of ICE arrests.

Source: SNL En Espanol! Bad Bunny Takes On SNL Hosting Duties & Silences Critics Of His 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show