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The Bad Bunny Superbowl fury reveals hypocrisy on all sides

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Bad Bunny Babel: Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny performs at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20, 2025.
Alejandro Granadillo
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AP
Bad Bunny Babel: Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny performs at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20, 2025.

Opinion: The hysteria over Bad Bunny's Super Bowl gig that we’re hearing from English-only militants shows a disregard for America's historical reality — but so does a Spanish-only mindset that many immigrants here still embrace.

On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett argues that that the controversy over giving the coveted half-time show to an artist who sings only in Spanish is not because America Firsters think not enough Americans speak Spanish — it’s because they are terrified that more than enough do.

But he says he is just as tired of watching Spanish-only immigrants act like there’s nothing wrong with not speaking a word of English in the U.S.

You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on youtube.com/@WLRN or on WLRN.org/Decoded. You can read Tim’s digital commentary along with WLRN’s coverage of Americas news on WLRN.org/americas. Sign up for the Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.