Petition argues Strait is a better choice, despite the artist having less than 10 percent of Bad Bunny’s Spotify monthly listeners
Since news broke that Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl halftime show next year, a Change.org petition has been circulating with people urging the NFL to replace the Puerto Rican singer with George Strait.
The racially tinged petition — put together by someone using a pseudonym — asks the NFL to let Strait perform during the show, writing that it’s “pivotal to remember the roots that have made American music what it is today,” and claiming that Bad Bunny wouldn’t fulfill those seeming prerequisites, despite the fact that he’s an American citizen. As of publication, the petition had 55,000 signatures. (A rep for Strait did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)
“The Super Bowl halftime show should unite our country, honor American culture, and remain family-friendly, not be turned into a political stunt,” the petition claims. “Bad Bunny represents none of these values; his drag performances and style are the opposite of what families expect on football’s biggest stage.” (To be clear: Bad Bunny did drag once for the “No Perreo Sola” music video. And even then, drag has long been a part of American culture.)
The petition is a reflection of the political divide and xenophobia Bad Bunny’s Latino heritage and lyrics in Spanish have ignited, along with his political views on immigrant rights amid the government’s deportation policies. In aninterview withi-Dmagazine, he previously shared that he wasn’t touring in the U.S. because he didn’t want ICE to target his Latino fanbase outside his concerts. (Even Trump called the decision to have Bad Bunny headline “absolutely ridiculous.”)
But Strait, whom the petition claims “embodies the heart and soul of American music,” would mark a stark shift for the halftime stage — and a far less popular choice. The country legend draws about 8 million monthly Spotify listeners — compared to Bad Bunny’s 81.4 million.
“Longtime prejudices have meant that Latin artists have been regarded with suspicion, doubt, and even outrage throughout music history, but these attitudes have twisted into something far more intense and sinister as a result of the current administration,” read a commentary piece from Rolling Stone‘s Julyssa Lopez. “Despite the rhetoric rooted in such an ugly history, Bad Bunny will still take the stage in February, and he’ll perform his songs in the language he wrote them in. That moment will represent millions of people in this country, including many of the Latinos who make up 20 percent of the population.”