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Bad Bunny row: Musk threatens to pull $40 million Super Bowl deal? Here's the truth
The decision to have Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl halftime show has drawn severe backlash with Charlie Kirk's TPUSA announcing their parallel program.
The controversy around Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl halftime event shows no signs of dying down, with rumors now suggesting that billionaire Elon Musk has threatened to pull a $40 million deal over the issue.
The decision to have the Puerto Rican singer perform at the NFL show has drawn severe backlash with the late Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA announcing their parallel program for MAGA loyalists. The major grouse with Bad Bunny comes from the fact that most of his music is not in English, and remarks he made about skipping US concerts for fear that ICE being outside.
Elon Musk to cancel Super Bowl deal over Bad Bunny?
The rumors that Elon Musk has threatened to cancel a Super Bowl deal began to circulate online and seem to come from this one profile.
“Elon Musk has threatened to pull his $40 million Super Bowl sponsorship if Bad Bunny, announced as the 2026 halftime performer, goes on. Musk and conservative critics oppose Bad Bunny’s comments about fearing ICE raids at his concerts, calling them anti-American. The NFL faces pressure to replace him or risk losing advertisers, while Bad Bunny’s fans and others slam Musk’s ultimatum as censorship,” said a profile going by Girl Patriot.
Also Read | Creed to perform at TPUSA halftime show? Buzz rises amid Bad Bunny Super Bowl row
Several people shared the post and reacted. One person wrote “Yes! Do it! I’m with Elon Musk. He’s right about so much but this one especially! Boycott Super Bowl Bad Bunny (asinine name) JayZ and NFL.” Another said, “He should pull it and he can sponsor the all American half time show turning point is doing.”
A publication called Gridiron Heroics carried a fan reaction copy, stating that Musk had threatened to pull the Super Bowl deal. There, they cited a source redirecting to a site – hotnews.otoarizasi.com. Here, an apparent X post from Musk were mentioned where he purportedly threatened ‘Cancel Bad Bunny or cancel me’.
HT.com could find no such post on Elon Musk's profile. The site in question has been previously fact-checked for a fake story on Musk apparently building a ‘sanctuary for homeless families’.
Despite there being no concrete basis, the claim was amplified on social media by more unverified profiles. “I think I fall for this guy more every day. A man that makes things happen,” a person on X said, sharing the article on fan reactions. However, there is no truth behind the claims that Musk has threatened to pull a $40 million Super Bowl deal.
Grok, the AI bot built by Musk, fact-checked the claims as well, saying “No, this claim appears to be false. Elon Musk hasn't posted anything about Bad Bunny or Super Bowl sponsorships on X. Similar rumors about other sponsors have been debunked by fact-checkers. Bad Bunny is confirmed as the 2026 halftime performer, though.” Grok further stated there were no reports of Musk even sponsoring the NFL Super Bowl event. No published media reports to the effect could be found either.
There have been previous such rumors of pullouts over Bad Bunny's participation, like the fake-news about Coca-Cola.
