Bad Bunny is back on Saturday Night Live!
The three-time Grammy winner returned for his second time hosting on Saturday night, where he addressed some of the backlash surrounding him being named the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner.
Bad Bunny poked fun at conservative criticism of him being tapped to perform at the big game, noting that everyone is excited about his performance, “even Fox News!”
“You might not know this, but I’m doing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. And I’m very happy, and I think everybody’s happy about it,” which led the crowd to erupt in applause, before he continued, “Even Fox News!”
SNL then cut to a montaged clip of Fox News host saying, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.”
“I’m really excited to be doing the Super Bowl, I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy,” to which he then began speaking in Spanish. He finished his monologue off by noting, “And, if you didn’t understand know what I just said, you have four months to learn!”
After the news of Bad Bunny being named the headlining act was revealed, Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski said ICE will be in attendance at next year’s Super Bowl. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem further corroborated Lewandowski’s claims, assuring ICE agents would be “all over” the big game.
Before he was named the next Super Bowl headliner, Bad Bunny notably did not have any U.S. dates featured on his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour. He told i-D Magazine this was partly due to ICE concerns.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful,” Bad Bunny said. “But there was the issue of — like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Season 51 of SNL comes on the heels of a cast exodus this summer. Five cast members separated the show following its landmark 50th season, including Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim.
Please Don’t Destroy sketches were also thrown out ahead of season 51, which formerly starred Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy. With the end of the bit, Higgins left SNL, while Marshall now joins as a featured player and Herlihy remains on the show’s staff as a writer. Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska were also added to the cast.
Bad Bunny hosted the season 51 premiere of SNL, while Doja Cat served as the night’s musical guest, in her first appearance on the sketch comedy series.
The full slate of host and musical guests for the rest of the season has not yet been revealed, though Amy Poehler is set to host on Oct. 11 with Role Model as musical guest. Sabrina Carpenter will pull double duty in both roles on Oct. 18.
More to come.
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