Bad Bunny Took a Big Risk at Super Bowl Halftime, Producers Say He Refused This Safety Precaution
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was full of daring moves, and behind the scenes, the production team faced some big challenges.
One of the main problems was that the NFL only allowed 25 carts to bring equipment onto Levi’s Stadium’s all-grass field in Santa Clara, California. That meant the crew had to carefully plan how to get everything on stage without damaging the field or slowing down the performance.
Despite these limitations, Bad Bunny pulled off some impressive stunts while performing live. At one point, he climbed a tall utility pole without using any safety gear. Hamilton, one of the producers, said, “He refused to wear a harness. He was like, ‘I don’t need it.’ There are all kinds of legal ramifications to that, which is not really my thing, but interestingly enough, when he decided he wasn’t going to wear a harness, we were able to then put a camera on the pole to look down at him climbing up!”
Another producer, Cuddeford, explained that Bad Bunny was confident and fast at learning the stunts. “There was all safety and rigging and all of that available, obviously, of course, but he didn’t want it. He does his own stunts, that guy, and he learned it in about three minutes. Straight up that pole. At rehearsal, we were all like, ‘Is he gonna be OK?’ But he just went straight up there, and managed his vocals. Very agile. He could just, like, handle anything.”
One of the show’s trickiest moments involved Bad Bunny falling through the roof of a small pink house set. The timing had to match a pre-recorded clip showing him falling, which appeared on a TV screen inside the house. Cuddeford described how much planning it took.
“The stunt itself, to fall through the roof, wasn’t so crazy — there’s a trap door. They just literally open it, and pull it out underneath him. But it required so much meticulous planning, because we cut straight into the pre-tape. Inside the pre-tape was the shot on the TV of him falling through the roof of the Super Bowl — so the family in the la casita were watching the Super Bowl live, and then he fell onto their table. That’s basically two different pre-tapes: The pre-tape inside the house, and then there’s the pre-tape on the field of him falling through the roof during the dress rehearsal. And then comping that all together, then cutting to the transition of him falling through the roof and be able to kick the front door open.”
The halftime show combined careful planning, clever camera work, and Bad Bunny’s fearless performance. He handled stunts that could have been risky, all while keeping his vocals strong and the show moving smoothly.
What Bad Bunny did was both brave and risky. It’s amazing to see an artist take on stunts like this live, but it also raises questions about safety. Do you think performers should be allowed to take such risks during live shows? Share your thoughts in the comments.