Puerto Rican singer and rapper Dangerous Bunny, whose actual identify is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, raised eyebrows amongst conservative critics for reportedly refusing to face up when God Bless America performed on the New York Yankees sport on October 7, 2025.
For these uninformed, God Bless America is a patriotic track written by Irving Berlin and launched in 1938, simply earlier than World Conflict II. The Yankees are reportedly the one baseball crew to play God Bless America throughout each dwelling sport, a practice that started after the 9/11 assaults in 2001.
In response to a current TMZ report, Dangerous Bunny was noticed on the New York Yankees sport on Tuesday with some pals. Through the seventh inning stretch, most attendees stood as much as sing God Bless America. Nonetheless, the Puerto Rican rapper remained seated.
Following this, Dangerous Bunny gained backlash from many conservatives, who have been already crucial of him being chosen to headline the upcoming Tremendous Bowl halftime. The outcry for the Tremendous Bowl present stemmed from the rapper’s remarks about ICE and an absence of English songs in his discography.
In a September 2025 interview with i-D Magazine, Bad Bunny stated he was reluctant to carry out within the US as he was apprehensive that ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) brokers may be exterior his exhibits.
“Individuals from the US may come right here to see the present. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the US may additionally journey right here, or to any a part of the world. However there was the difficulty of—like, f**king ICE might be exterior [my concert]. And it’s one thing that we have been speaking about and really involved about,” he stated.
Exploring the story of God Bless America
In response to his web site, Irving Berlin immigrated to New York Metropolis on the age of 5. He was drafted into the US Military throughout World Conflict I and stationed at Camp Upton. In 1918, Berlin wrote God Bless America for Yip, Yip, Yaphank, a present he created to entertain troopers throughout World Conflict I.
In a 1954 letter to Abel Inexperienced, editor of Selection, Berlin defined that God Bless America, which had been written because the present’s finale, was dropped after he realized it was a bit excessive.
“I wrote ‘God Bless America’ at Camp Upton in 1918 to be the finale of Yip, Yip, Yaphank. As it’s possible you’ll bear in mind, the present opened on August nineteenth on the Outdated Century Theater. The finale – the boys have been alerted within the scene earlier than that they have been going abroad, and in abroad outfits, together with helmets, they marched via the Theater, went out to the road and backstage the place they boarded a transport, and because the lights lowered, the transport, on wheel, slowly moved off stage,” he wrote.
“It was a really touching and emotional scene. As I bear in mind, the track they sang was ‘Within the Y.M.C.A.’ because the curtain got here down. Having that finale in thoughts, it appeared portray the lily to have troopers sing ‘God Bless America’ in that scenario, so I didn’t use it,” he continued.
In his letter to Inexperienced, Berlin wrote about visiting Germany in 1938 and worrying about Adolf Hitler’s rising energy. On the best way again, he “tried to jot down a track that [he] felt at the moment” and composed Thanks, America, however was not happy.
Berlin then remembered that he had written God Bless America and determined to rewrite it to swimsuit the present occasions. Within the letter, Berlin added that he tweaked the present track as he wished it “to be a track of peace.” He additionally wrote that Kate Smith carried out the track on her radio show, titled The Kate Smith Hour, that November.
“In 1918 it was written as a warfare track, which the phrase ‘make her victorious on land and foam’ signifies. In 1938, I didn’t need it to be a warfare track. I wished it to be a track of peace. On Armistice Day, 1938, I spoke to Ted Collins [Kate Smith’s manager] and he wished a track for Kate Smith to sing on that program, the place she launched it,” Berlin wrote.
Dangerous Bunny addressed Tremendous Bowl backlash
Throughout his current Saturday Night Live look, Dangerous Bunny addressed the MAGA backlash he skilled after he was introduced because the headliner for the 2026 Tremendous Bowl halftime present. Within the SNL episode on October 4, the Puerto Rican star stated he was “very pleased” to carry out on the Tremendous Bowl, sarcastically including that “everyone seems to be pleased about it, even Fox Information.”
Following this, the present performed a clip of a number of Fox Information anchors spliced collectively to say, “Dangerous Bunny is my favourite musician, and he needs to be the subsequent president.” He then continued his monologue in Spanish, earlier than jokingly including that everybody had four months to learn the language.
The Super Bowl is scheduled for February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in California.
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Edited by Juhi Marzia
