Green Day have taken some heat for sticking to the music during their appearance at the Super Bowl’s Kickoff Performance, but at least one social media post has us considering whether the lack of lashing out against the current administration, as they’ve done often in a public forum, was itself a politically motivated statement.
Why Didn’t Green Day Get Political in Their Super Bowl Kickoff Performance?
Though Green Day haven’t spoken on their Super Bowl performance motivations, actor/director Thomas Sadoski shared a theory on Green Day’s motives for not speaking out while having one of the largest viewing platforms of their career in an Instagram post.
Sadoski, best known for his role in HBO’s The Newsroom and in such films as Wild and John Wick, also is a founding ambassador of War Child USA and serves on the Board of Directors for INARA (International Network for Aid, Relief & Assistance) and the International Advisory Council for Fortify Rights.
In the post, Sadoski shared the following:
Seeing a lot of people taking shots at Green Day.
fwiw: maybe Green Day knew that white boys jumping out there saying something controversial would be the entirety of the ensuing media focus which would subsume the most worthwhile message of the evening: Bad Bunny performing with unrestrained honesty, grace, pride, dignity, joy and beauty.
Often times the most “punk” thing you can do is give up the mic to the voices that haven’t been heart nearly enough and make folks deal with *that*.
The actor also quoted The Clash‘s Joe Strummer in his caption, adding, “If you ain’t thinkin about man and God and law, then you ain’t thinkin about nothin’.”
What Was the Message of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Performance?
From the moment Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl halftime performer, there was backlash concerning his background and potential political motivations. Bad Bunny had made the decision previously to perform a residency in Puerto Rico, purposefully avoiding U.S. dates out of concern for his shows become ICE raid hotspots.
While Puerto Rico is an American territory, Spanish and English are the co-official languages of the Commonwealth. Much of Bad Bunny’s music has been performed in Spanish throughout his career, which upset a portion of the population that felt a Spanish-language halftime performance would be un-American. The backlash went so far that TurningPointUSA offered their All-American halftime show as an alternative fearing some anti-American statement.
But Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show actually celebrated his Puerto Rican heritage and the place that it holds in America’s story.
While performing almost entirely in Spanish, he broke to English at one point to express the words, “God Bless America.” With Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga joining a slew of dancers and musicians during the halftime performance, the presentation was centered on a message of unity.
READ MORE: Rockers React to Bad Bunny’s Performance at the Super Bowl Halftime
Both U.S. and Puerto Rican flags stood side by side and the singer at one point spiked a football that had a message that read, “Together we are America” after he named nations in North America and South America.
The performance concluded with a visible message in English reading “The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love.”
Green Day Did Have Something to Say at a Separate Super Bowl-Related Event
Though Green Day stuck to the music while playing a medley of hits during their Super Bowl kickoff performance, the band did also play another invite-only Spotify-sponsored Super Bowl party at San Francisco’s Pier 29 last Friday (Feb. 6) as part of the Super Bowl weekend festivities.
And during that full concert performance, they didn’t hold back on speaking their minds. At one point, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong gave a powerful warning to ICE agents about what’s going to happen to them “when this is over.”
“And this goes out to all the ICE agents out wherever you are. Quit your shitty ass job. Quit that shitty job you have,” Armstrong began while leaning toward the crowd and speaking slowly for emphasis.
The crowd cheered as he continued: “Because when this is over – and it will be over at some point in time – Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Donald Trump, they’re gonna drop you like a bad fucking habit. Come on this side of the line.”
So Green Day did have a say in a Super Bowl weekend event, but perhaps chose unity on a day bringing together not only American households but viewers around the world.
See some of the rockers who supported Bad Bunny playing at the Super Bowl in the gallery below.
Every Rock Artist That Has Played the Super Bowl Halftime Show
Rock on the biggest stage!
Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire