Bad Bunny Addresses Super Bowl Backlash During SNL Season 51 Premiere
Bad Bunny is back on Saturday Night Live!
The three-time Grammy winner returned for his second time hosting on Saturday night, where he addressed some of the backlash surrounding him being named the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner.
Bad Bunny poked fun at conservative criticism of him being tapped to perform at the big game, noting that everyone is excited about his performance, “even Fox News!”
“You might not know this, but I’m doing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. And I’m very happy, and I think everybody’s happy about it,” which led the crowd to erupt in applause, before he continued, “Even Fox News!”
SNL then cut to a montaged clip of pieced together segments that made out Fox News hosts saying, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.”
“I’m really excited to be doing the Super Bowl, I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy,” to which he then began speaking in Spanish.
“Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors,” he said in Spanish. “It’s more than a win for myself, it’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.”
He finished his monologue off by noting in English, “And, if you didn’t understand know what I just said, you have four months to learn!”
Earlier in the monologue, a clip of Jon Hamm (who Bad Bunny called Juan Jamón) dancing to his music at a show was shown. The SNL cameras then panned over to Hamm in attendance at the show.
During the cold open, Colin Jost took the stage where he portrayed U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, where he joked that the military would adhere to the highest standards set by President Donald Trump.
“Our military will now have the same rules as any good frat party,” he said. “No fat chicks. And if you’re a fat dude, god damnit, you better be funny as hell.” James Austin Johnson’s Trump then made his return, where he said he was “just here keeping my eye on SNL, making sure they don’t say anything too mean about me.”
“SNL 51, off to a rough start. 17 new cast members, and they got the ‘Update’ guy doing the cold open. Look at Colin, poor Colin. We knew they wouldn’t let him do the whole open by himself,” he joked.
Johnson’s Trump, too, very briefly touched on the controversy surrounding the Riyadh Comedy Festival, noting he was “surprised Colin’s here, I thought he’d be with his friends at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.”
Johnson’s Trump further poked fun at the brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a reference to his “attack dog” Brendan Carr, with Mikey Day making an appearance in the cold open as the FCC chair.
After the news of Bad Bunny being named the headlining act was revealed, Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski said ICE will be in attendance at next year’s Super Bowl. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem further corroborated Lewandowski’s claims, assuring ICE agents would be “all over” the big game.
Before he was named the next Super Bowl headliner, Bad Bunny notably did not have any U.S. dates featured on his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour. He told i-D Magazine this was partly due to ICE concerns.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful,” Bad Bunny said. “But there was the issue of — like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Elsewhere in the season 51 premiere, EJAE, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, who voice characters in Netflix and Sony Animation’s hit movie KPop Demon Hunters, made a surprise appearance during a brunch-themed sketch. Their short cameo saw Bad Bunny’s character raving over the film, to which they then surprised the audience and gave their first-ever live performance of “Golden.”
Season 51 of SNL comes on the heels of a cast exodus this summer. Five cast members separated the show following its landmark 50th season, including Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim.
Other than Johnson’s Trump joking about season 51 featuring “17 new cast members” in the cold open, the cast shakeup was not further addressed.
Please Don’t Destroy sketches were also thrown out ahead of season 51, which formerly starred Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy. With the end of the bit, Higgins left SNL, while Marshall now joins as a featured player and Herlihy remains on the show’s staff as a writer. Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska were also added to the cast.
Bad Bunny hosted the season 51 premiere of SNL, while Doja Cat served as the night’s musical guest, in her first appearance on the sketch comedy series.
The full slate of host and musical guests for the rest of the season has not yet been revealed, though Amy Poehler is set to host on Oct. 11 with Role Model as musical guest. Sabrina Carpenter will pull double duty in both roles on Oct. 18.
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