Like watching a bad telenovela with its predictable, bad acting- so is watching the legacy media cover Bad Bunny’s much-hyped Super Bowl halftime show. In today’s episode of that bad soap opera, NBC Nightly News covers a throwaway line as if it were a major rift directly involving the President of the United States.
Watch this goofy report in its entirety, as aired on NBC Nightly News on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025:
TOM LLAMAS: We are back with one of the biggest musical performances of the year. Bad Bunny set to star in the Super Bowl halftime show, but there is a new flashpoint after a top advisor for President Trump said ICE agents will be there. Here's Gabe Gutierrez.
GABE GUTIERREZ: He’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world, with the most streams on Spotify for three straight years. But tonight, Bad Bunny is facing mounting MAGA backlash.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI: It's so shameful that they have decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much.
GUTIERREZ: Bad Bunny was just selected to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, but he has been an outspoken critic of President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, recently revealing why he opted not to tour the continental U.S., saying, quote: “ICE could be outside my concert.” Now President Trump's Homeland Security advisor Corey Lewandowski is suggesting there will be immigration agents at the Super Bowl.
BENNY JOHNSON: Will ICE have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show?
LEWANDOWSKI: Benny, there is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to the people in this country. Not the Super Bowl, and nowhere else. We will find you…
GUTIERREZ: A DHS spokesperson tells NBC News ICE always supports the highest security events. The 31-year-old, who is a U.S. citizen, recently wrapped up a sold out residency in Puerto Rico in his native Puerto Rico. As he told Tom this summer...
TOM LLAMAS: This is much more than just a concert. What did it mean to you?
BAD BUNNY: Everything. This is a dream come true.
GUTIERREZ: It would not be the first time a Super Bowl performance sparked political controversy. In 2020, Jennifer Lopez featured kids in cages, seen as a protest of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Two years later, Eminem took a knee.
No comment tonight on the halftime controversy from the NFL, the show’s producers or Bad Bunny. Tom.
LLAMAS: All right. Gabe Gutierrez.
The news division is doing its sports brethren a solid by trying to legitimize an unforced error by Bad Bunny, who infamously said that he didn’t want to do any U.S. dates on this world tour because of the fear of ICE raids. Of course, Bad Bunny would go on to reverse himself by accepting the Super Bowl invite, given that there are ongoing ICE actions in Santa Clara, California, where Super Bowl LX will be played.
Upon further examination, the ICE raid story doesn’t hold water. As part of his video package, correspondent Gabe Gutierrez aired footage of Bad Bunny grumbling at ICE raids in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the 30-date residency is reported to have been planned years in advance- as far back as August 2023 per New York’s El Diario. The border was wide open at the time, so the ICE story doesn’t survive scrutiny. Even the world tour took significant planning prior to its May 5th announcement. A serious press would examine these inconsistencies rather than parrot them acritically.
And OF COURSE ICE is going to be present at the Super Bowl. It is commonplace for DHS to have all hands on deck from ICE, HSI and ERO during a SEAR-1 level National Security Special Event- the highest level of security for such events. ICE had a large presence, for example, during Super Bowl LI in Houston. Lady Gaga was the halftime performer. Gutierrez downplayed ICE’s statement by barely mentioning it.
There is little interest in actual reporting here. The emphasis is on “flashpoints” and drama. Unfortunately, there are several months left to this telenovela.
