Fact Check: Is the claim Bad Bunny is a US citizen true?
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA: Ahead of the much-anticipated and debated Super Bowl Halftime performance, many are questioning the citizenship of the performer, Bad Bunny. The speculations surfaced as the Puerto Rican singer has criticised President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on various instances. Let us fact-check the artist’s citizenship.
Claim: Bad Bunny is not an American
As Bad Bunny is set to take the center stage at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, February 8, for the Super Bowl Halftime performance, there is speculation about his citizenship at various levels, especially in conservative spaces.
The confusion arose as the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was born and raised in Puerto Rico and sings rap in Spanish.
"I've always been very proud of where I come from," Bad Bunny told Billboard in 2018. "I love my island. It means pride, it means love, it means a lot of things to me.
"Being a Puerto Rican, it means everything. It's what I am. And it feels good to be one more artist representing the island."
Fact Check: Puerto Ricans are indeed US citizens
Bad Bunny and Puerto Ricans are indeed US citizens. This hasn't always been the case, as the island was under the Spanish Empire, which was later ceded to the United States after its defeat in the Spanish-American War, following America's conquest of the region in 1898.
Puerto Ricans weren't granted independence until 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson passed the Jones-Shafroth Act, giving the island Puerto Rico its political and economic autonomy, forcing the island to separate its government into executive, judicial, and legislative branches.
The island’s official language was English, but later it was overruled by the Puerto Rican Senate, relegating English to a secondary language behind Spanish.
So, Puerto Rico is neither a state nor an independent country; rather, it's a territory of the United States, also known as a commonwealth, hence making Bad Bunny a US citizen.
Super Bowl through a political lens
Speculations about the rapper arose ahead of the Super Bowl, which has become a symbol of broader debates over culture, identity, and political debates in the US.
In today’s polarized climate, Bad Bunny’s very presence on the halftime stage is being read through a political lens.
The artist is facing heavy political criticism, most notably from President Donald Trump.
While the president attended last year’s game, he has ruled out a trip to Super Bowl LX, criticizing the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny and Green Day as 'terrible.'
