Tomi Lahren insists Bad Bunny is not an American during heated debate

[Swede]

I hate hate. Hate it. (I quote this from the sixties show Get Smart)

Tomi Lahren was corrected on her own show after claiming Bad Bunny is not an American, sparking backlash across social media

https://www.the-express.com/entertainment/celebrity-news/185994/bad-bunny-superbowl-Tomi-Lahren

[Historic NY]

1. One of the stupidest.

[Srkdqltr]

2. I do not understand why the NFL chose a Latin performer? They had to know. Seriously?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Had to know what? (nt)

[Srkdqltr]

5. I know he is American, but his music is Latin. Thats why the MAGA folk are so upset.

That's why ICE will target the super Bowl. What a good look for America. But then its football.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. I don't believe ICE would not have targeted the Superbowl if they had an anglo act

Their 'targeting' is presumably aimed at the workers who have little choice but the turn up if they want to keep their jobs. I don't think those splashing on tickets are doing so just because they're wealthy undocumented immigrants who only go because of a Latin halftime act.

"But then it's football". But this looks like the NFL saying "fuck MAGA, we'll have a very popular halftime act, and we don't care that he normally sings in Spanish". So yes, it's a good look.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. The NFL is a business, and Bad Bunny is good for business.

Bad Bunny appeals to a really wide range of audiences, just like Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna.

[AZJonnie]

10. I'm not sure I'd call him a "Latin performer", at least not in the traditional sense

There aren't a lot of accordions and guitarróns and horn sections in his music (though he does incorporate them to impart a Latin American musical flavor in some songs, I'd say his overall style is probably closer to hip hop).

To answer your question, though: Looking at Spotify, if you took the spin-counts of the Top 10 All-Time, most-played Beatles songs and added the Top 10 All-Time most played Rolling Stones songs, those spin counts would amount to WAY less than the total spins of the top 10 songs on Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny's 2022 studio album (NOT a greatest hits, just an album).

If you count "average spins divided by # of years that the artist has been making music", Bad Bunny is by a considerable margin the most popular artist of all-time on Spotify. He came out Xmas Eve, 2018, and he's already the #3 most played artist ever on the platform, not far behind #1Taylor Swift and #2 Drake, who've been around since before Spotify existed in Taylor's case, and since 2010 in Drake's case. Bad Bunny is very likely to be #1 all-time, period, within the next couple of years.

So the main "why" I would guess is that Bad Bunny is the biggest music star IN THE WORLD over the past just under 7 years, since he came out. But also in terms of international markets for the NFL to build fan bases in (which they are clearly trying to do), Central and South America make a great deal of sense because the time zones are not far from those of the USA.

[Prairie Gates]

15. The NFL has completely saturated the white market and the black market

They are still underwater with Latino/a markets. They also fear losing the under-30 market to other sports (especially soccer, which is seeing massive growth due to the general availability of European, Mexican, and South American leagues on streaming service).

That's the only reason.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Nice touch by Krystal Ball

"He’s Puerto Rican. That’s part of America, dear."

It's the "dear" that humiliates Lahren.

[yellowcanine]

6. Bless her heart. She doesn't know Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.

Did she study at a Gawd and Country school?

[GiqueCee]

11. And neither did Trump...

... their willful ignorance and staggering stupidity is a slow-motion train wreck happening right before our eyes. And we're all on that train.

[The Madcap]

9. If anything does go down at the Super Bowl

The press had better be broadcasting it live for millions of Americans to see.

[themaguffin]

12. wow, she's stupid.

[GoCubsGo]

13. Tomi who?

Why should anyone give a shit what she thinks?

[msfiddlestix]

14. Who the hell is Bad Bunny, and why should we care?

[Cha]

16. Is Tomi Lahren? I don't

think so.