Influencer and professional boxer Jake Paul publicly criticized Bad Bunny and urged viewers to stop watching the Super Bowl halftime show. Paul’s comments framed the performance as a political and cultural flashpoint.
Jake Paul slams Bad Bunny during halftime rant
Paul took to X on February 8 as Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance aired, encouraging fans to switch off their TVs. In his post, he argued that viewership empowers corporations and claimed audiences should use their “power” to send a message.
“Purposefully turning off the halftime show,” Paul wrote. “Let’s rally together and show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences (which equals viewership for them). You are their benefit. Realize you have power. Turn off this halftime. A fake American citizen performing who publicly hates America. I cannot support that.”
This accusation of being a “fake American” refers to Bad Bunny’s Puerto Rican heritage. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, making its residents U.S. citizens by birth. Now, Jake Paul’s Super Bowl halftime outburst is not an isolated incident, but part of a conflict tied to Puerto Rican economic policy. Both Jake and his brother, Logan Paul, moved to Puerto Rico in 2021, a move Logan publicly stated was to leverage tax benefits.
This decision placed them directly at odds with Bad Bunny, who has been an outspoken critic of the very tax laws the Pauls used. In 2022, Bad Bunny released a documentary, El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente, which highlighted how such tax incentive programs accelerate gentrification and displace local Puerto Ricans.
Following the documentary’s release, Jake’s brother Logan Paul criticized the artist for hypocrisy on the Philip DeFranco Show, stating, “I do find it hypocritical because Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican, living in Puerto Rico, who is privately taking advantage of the same tax program that he is publicly condemning” (via Variety).
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.com.
