Bad Bunny, who led the Latin Billboard Awards with a historic 27 nominations, is not for old white people and that's okay

The Latin Billboard Awards were last night and Bad Bunny, who led with a historic 27 nominations, picked up 11 trophies, including Top Latin Artist of the 21st Century, which was presented to him by Rita Moreno. Iconique and icónico!

Since the announcement that Benito will be performing the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show—and Fox News committed to portraying this as some kind of all-American betrayal—many older and/or white people in my life have been complaining about it. Not to make it ageist, but the simple reality is, the younger folks in my life have heard of Bad Bunny, they know who he is, so they’re not surprised he’s doing the halftime show. I’ve been sharing with people Lainey’s article about the NFL’s decision, especially the part about Latinos being the fastest-growing demographic for the NFL.

Suffice to say, this is shocking to people to whom football has always been the American (read: white) sport. As I’ve been talking to people about this, pointing out that Bad Bunny’s music is rad even if you don’t understand Spanish, the beats and the vibes are good, the thing I keep landing on is “this just isn’t for you”. And the more I think about that, the more I wonder if that simple sentiment explains a lot about every facet of our current culture.

Look, we’re all going to get old. Every generation has their moment as trendsetters, only to inevitably fade to the back as we age and fall out of step with the new youth. It’s natural! It’s not a big deal! It’s really not. The moment you realize you’re uncool is very freeing, you no longer have to worry about what people think of you, you can just enjoy your little hobbies and whichever cut of jeans you think makes your ass look the best. But for some reason, we have an older generation that, as a cohort, cannot accept that they’re not cool, that it isn’t about them anymore, and that their grandkids are into a Spanish-speaking, Puerto Rican, American rapper.

Bad Bunny isn’t theirs, they don’t want to see him at the Super Bowl, but, quite frankly, the Super Bowl is no longer made for them. It’s made for the youths, and the Latinos, the markets the NFL wants to turn into generational fans. And it’s not just the NFL. Every corner of the culture is embracing Bad Bunny, which if you don’t get it—don’t get him—must be scary. But that’s how it goes. Eventually someone else sets the trends. Right now, Bad Bunny is emerging as a major force across American culture. He’s the trendsetter. And we’re in great hands! He’s talented and cool and stylish! Just look at him at the Latin Billboard Awards. He looks GREAT.

What else happened today…

So far, I have been embracing my greying hair, choosing not to dye it. But what if you don’t want to do that? What if you want to retain luscious color amidst a growing trend of ageing greys? Don’t worry, that’s cool, too! (Popsugar)

Somewhat ironically, the style at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards, which celebrates stylists, hairstylists, makeup artists, etc, was rather questionable. (Go Fug Yourself)

Wholesome story of the day: sea otters are stealing surfboards in California. I’m telling you, that Louvre heist is inspiring everyone. Forget scammers, we’re an age of thieves now! (Celebitchy)

Do we really need Hocus Pocus 3? I say this as someone who loves Hocus Pocus and mostly likes Hocus Pocus 2, but continuing to churn out legacy sequels and franchises no one asked for is pretty much everything wrong with Hollywood right now. It’s created a cycle of anticipation that basically makes it impossible for the long-awaited sequel to live up to the hype. Top Gun: Maverick is the only legacy sequel that is not only good but actually builds on the original in a meaningful way, and 0.001 is not a good batting average. Maybe it’s time to let the hype machine cool off and focus on creating exciting, new stories for people to love? LOL, yeah right, modern Hollywood will never. (Bloomberg)