“The hate gets more powerful with more hate,” the Puerto Rican superstar said after winning Best Música Urbana Album for his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”

Bad Bunny calls for ‘ICE out’ in powerful Grammys 2026 speech: ‘We’re not animals… We are Americans’

"The hate gets more powerful with more hate," the Puerto Rican superstar said after winning Best Música Urbana Album for his "Debí Tirar Más Fotos."

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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February 1, 2026 10:17 p.m. ET

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Bad Bunny at the 2026 Grammys. Credit:

Kevin Winter/Getty

Bad Bunny promoted love over hate at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

After winning the Best Música Urbana Album award on Sunday for his *Debí Tirar Más Fotos*, the Puerto Rican superstar got political in a powerful acceptance speech amid national unrest over violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that have resulted in innocent deaths.

"ICE out," he began before pausing due to the audience erupting in massive applause and cheers. "We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans."

After more applause from the crowd, the "Yo Perreo Sola" rapper continued by calling for positivity despite the current fraught political climate.

Trevor Noah shouts out Bad Bunny at the 2026 Grammys.

"I want to say to the people, I know it’s tough not to hate in these days," Bad Bunny (real name Benito Martínez Ocasio) said. "I was thinking sometime we get ... contaminados? I don’t know how to say that in English. The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love, so please, we need to be different. We fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them. We love our people, we love our family, and that’s the way to do it, with love. Don’t forget that please. Thank you!"

Bad Bunny beat out fellow nominees J Balvin (*Mixteip*)*, *Feid (*Ferxxo Vol X: Sagrado*), Nicki Nicole (*Naiki*), Trueno (*EUB Deluxe*), and Yandel (*Sinfónico (En Vivo)*).

He is currently one of the biggest musical artists on the planet with over 107 billion streams on Spotify and 49.5 million followers on Instagram, and is currently gearing up to headline the 2026 Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show on Feb. 8.

The announcement of Bad Bunny as the halftime show performer was met with backlash immediately from conservative figures due to him singing primarily in Spanish, in an innovative style that fuses Latin trap, reggaeton, hip-hop, and salsa. Former racecar driver Danica Patrick wrote on social media, "No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest-rated television events of the year."

Donald Trump will skip Super Bowl, disses performers Bad Bunny and Green Day: 'Terrible choice'

Bad Bunny hit with $16 million lawsuit ahead of Super Bowl halftime show

President Donald Trump declared earlier this week that he'll be skipping the Super Bowl this year, and bashed Bad Bunny along with Green Day, who recently announced that they would play at its opening ceremony.

"I'm anti-them," Trump said of the musicians. "I think it's a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible."

Trump previously criticized the NFL's decision to hire Bad Bunny for the halftime show.

"I've never heard of him... I don't know who he is," the president said in October. "I don't know why they're doing it. It's crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment — I think it's absolutely ridiculous."

Bad Bunny previously stated he avoided bringing his *Debi Tirar Mas Fotos* World Tour to the continental United States due to concerns that ICE would target his concerts.

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"There were many reasons why I didn't show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I've performed there many times," he said in September. "All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I've enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the U.S. But there was the issue of, like, f---ing ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it's something that we were talking about and very concerned about."

Bad Bunny's fears were confirmed when Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she would send ICE to the Super Bowl in February. "We'll be all over that place," she said. "We're going to enforce the law."

Homeland Security advisor Corey Lewandowski also threatened ICE presence at the Super Bowl, saying, "There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally."

The 68th Grammy Awards aired Sunday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+. See the full list of winners here.**

**If you missed EW and PEOPLE's red carpet show from the Grammys, check out our interview with J Balvin below, who gave a special shout-out to Bad Bunny:**

3:20 J Balvin Shouts Out Bad Bunny Ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl

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Source: “EW Grammys”