Super Bowl halftime performer Bad Bunny’s anger at Donald Trump contributed to his controversial decision to sit for ‘God Bless America’ at the New York Yankees game this week.
That’s according to a fanatical baseball fan who found himself sat two seats down from the musician at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday night.
The fan, who goes by the online title ‘Marlins_Man’ but whose real name is Laurence Leavy, was in town to watch the Yankees face Toronto Blue Jays. As he took his seat behind the plate for the playoff game, found he was next to the polarizing artist.
The NFL’s decision to give Bad Bunny the Super Bowl halftime show has caused an eruption of fury from Trump’s support base, given the artist’s repeated criticisms of the President.
And the flames were fanned Tuesday when Bad Bunny stayed in his seat for the Yankees’ traditional rendition of ‘God Bless America’ at the end of the seventh inning.
‘Yes, Bad Bunny was sitting and did not stand during God Bless America,’ Leavy wrote on social media, while sharing a selfie with the artist.
A baseball fan sat with Bad Bunny at a Yankees game this week has spoken on the encounter
The musician caused outrage by sitting for ‘God Bless America’ during Tuesday’s game
‘I don’t agree but it’s his right AS AN AMERICAN to so choose. He caught a fowl (sic) ball and was very nice and respectful to everyone there.’
Leavy added on X that he tried to get the Puerto Rican singer to stand up for ‘God Bless America’ but was rebuffed by the singer and his management.
He explained: ‘So I wanted to add that i asked his manager yo (sic) get him up and he said no.
‘Mad at Trump for saying he’s is (sic) Latin and not an American. He thinks Trump doesn’t know Puerto Rico is in USA.’
Leavy didn’t specify whether the manager or Bad Bunny himself told him of his fury at the President but either way, the comments give a fascinating insight into the mood in the singer’s camp amid intensifying scrutiny over the Super Bowl show.
But Leavy added that the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was otherwise friendly.
‘He is super nice and humble,’ Leavy wrote. ‘Wish him the best.’
Trump, meanwhile, this week called the NFL’s decision to give the Super Bowl halftime show to the artist ‘crazy’.
The fan, known as ‘Marlins Man’, has revealed what it was like to speak with Bad Bunnt
President Trump has criticized the NFL’s decision to give Bad Bunnt the Super Bowl HT show
The president told Newsmax that he was unfamiliar with the 31-year-old musician but that the NFL was wrong to give him the prestigious gig given his previously stated dislike for Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
‘I never heard of him, I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s like, crazy,’ the president said.
TurningPoint USA, the political group founded by late MAGA activist Charlie Kirk, is also planning an ‘All American Halftime Show’ – saying the event will be ‘celebrating faith, family and freedom’.
As for Bad Bunny himself, the early signs are that he is enjoying the backlash against him.
He was the host of Saturday Night Live last week, and told viewers: ‘You might not know this but I’m doing the Super Bowl halftime show and I’m very happy and I think everyone is happy about it – even Fox News,’ Bad Bunny said.
A heavily-edited clip then played, stitching together the comments of various Fox anchors and pundits so that they said: ‘Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.’
He continued: ‘Thank you. Wow, thank you. 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.’
The rapper then spoke in Spanish for several seconds before finishing his monologue by saying: ‘If you did not understand what I just said… you have four months to learn!’
For his recent world tour, he said he would not schedule any shows in the United States due to fears they would be raided by ICE.
He told Variety: ‘There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times.
The musician himself seems to be amused by the backlash over his Super Bowl role
‘All of (the shows) have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the US.
‘But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the US… People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world.
‘But there was the issue of — like, f*****g ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.’
Trump made history this year by becoming the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl back in February in New Orleans.
But next year’s event, on February 8 near San Francisco, is already shaping up to be a very different occasion.
