- Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl LX halftime show on Sunday, Feb. 8.
- Real Housewives stars Jill Zarin, Brandi Glanville, Taylor Armstrong, and Bethenny Frankel have spoken out since his performance, sparking some drama.
- Here’s all the Real Housewives drama
Bad Bunny took the stage at Levi’s Stadium for his historic Super Bowl halftime show performance on Sunday, February 8, and while many people applauded him for primarily singing in Spanish, others had taken issue with it. Among the naysayers were some key players in the Real Housewives franchise, including Jill Zarin, Brandi Glanville, Taylor Armstrong, and Bethenny Frankel.
Some of their comments about Bad Bunny’s show sparked backlash and even led to one of them being fired from an upcoming Real Housewives of New York reboot. A lot has gone down since the Puerto Rican artist took the stage, so we’re breaking down how all the drama went down in chronological order.
Jill Zarin, Taylor Armstrong, and Bethenny Frankel speak out against Bad Bunny’s halftime show
After Bad Bunny took the stage on Super Bowl Sunday, Real Housewives of New York’s Jill Zarin posted a review of his performance. She dubbed it the “worst halftime show ever” because it was mostly sung in Spanish and because “no white people” were part of the performance. (Hello, this Lady Gaga erasure???)
“To me, it looked like a political statement because there were literally no white people in the entire thing,” she added. “I’m not taking a side, one way or the other… I think it was an ICE thing. I think that the NFL sold out, and it’s very sad.”
Her video has since been deleted after receiving backlash that her stance was rooted in racism.
Jill wasn’t the only Housewife who expressed a distaste for the halftime show. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Taylor Armstrong also shared a message on her Instagram Story that raised eyebrows.
In it, she wrote, “Were you entertained? I am embarrassed for the NFL and Apple for the Super Bowl halftime show totally in Spanish with a Cuban flag!!”
Oh, and another RHONY alum, Bethenny Frankel, shared a controversial review on TikTok that was quickly deleted—but not before fans caught it. In it, she said, “Should these entertainment vehicles—the Grammys, the Emmys, the Oscars, the Super Bowl—should this be the place for personal, cultural, political views to be expressed?”
After deleting the clip, she replaced it a second one in which she defended the rapper as “an artist expressing himself, his music, and his experience as a Puerto Rican man in America”...which she also then deleted.
Brandi Glanville defends Jill, despite having different beliefs
On February 10, Jill’s RHONY co-star, Brandi Glanville, defended her on social media, though she claimed she doesn’t agree with her stance (and even admitted to having a crush on Bad Bunny).
“OK #1 I have a HUGE crush on BadBunny I wanna be his Mrs. Robinson,” she wrote, adding that his performance “rocked.”
She added, “My friend @Jill Zarin has her own opinion & I don’t agree with it AT ALL but opinions aren’t wrong, they’re subjective. I want to watch Jill on TV explain herself & hopefully learn something. Or we can just keep watching ‘yes people’ afraid to share.”
Jill is fired from E!’s upcoming RHONY spin-off, The Golden Life
On February 11, Blink49 Studios—aka the production company behind E!’s upcoming RHONY spin-off, The Golden Life—issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, confirming that Jill had been fired from the show because of her racist comments.
“In light of recent public comments made by Jill Zarin, Blink49 Studios has decided not to move forward with her involvement in The Golden Life. We remain committed to delivering the series in line with our company standards and values,” they said.
After she was cut from the cast, Jill told InTouch magazine, “They didn’t even give me a chance. I took it down right away. People make mistakes. I’m human.”
Taylor walks back her comments and publicly apologizes
While Jill has yet to issue a public apology for her since-deleted video, Taylor issued an apology on her Instagram Stories on February 11.
“I want to address my earlier Instagram post about the Super Bowl halftime show,” she shared, per Just Jared. “My post did not fully reflect my heart or my respect for the artist and culture as a whole.”
She continued, “The Super Bowl is such a huge American tradition, and while I personally didn’t connect with the creative direction of this year’s halftime show, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Bad Bunny IS an American and that the Spanish language is a prominent aspect of American culture. Evidently, my lack of awareness of the Latin culture led me to mistaken the flag as Cuban.”
The reality TV personality apologized for “impulsively posting misinformation in the moment,” closing her message with, “I apologize to the Latin community and anyone else I may have offended. I’m always learning, always growing, and I appreciate the opportunity to clarify my heart and move forward with more thoughtfulness.”
Andy Cohen breaks his silence on Jill’s firing
During the February 12 episode of his SiriusXM show, Radio Andy, Andy Cohen reacted to Jill’s firing from The Golden Life.
“I don’t really have anything to say about it, besides call E! If you want further comment, call E!” he said.
He continued, “I mean, especially someone who was let go in season four, talked about it with me so much on camera, off camera, was finally coming back, and then a week after the announcement…but I will never get over the sight of the Zarin Fabrics Instagram account. Posting a picture of Jill with an X over it, with an X over her face. I never thought that I would see the day.”
Of course, he’s referring to the company, which was founded by Jill’s late husband, Bobby Zarin, speaking out against her halftime show comments.
“Zarin Fabrics stands firmly against racism, discrimination, and rhetoric that seeks to exclude or diminish people based on identity, culture, or background,” the company’s official social media account wrote, with a red X over a photo of Jill’s face. They clarified that she “has not had ownership of or been associated with Zarin Fabrics for several years.”
Bethenny Frankel snaps at fans after her original halftime show comments resurface
After her original video resurfaces, Bethenny posted yet another TikTok on February 12, in which she said, “Let’s say I say something wrong, let’s say I get a word wrong… Let’s say for a brief second—even though I’ve been to Puerto Rico, like, six times—realize that it’s a territory but that it is not on the mainland so it feels culturally different… Let’s say I get it wrong, let’s say I fucking say it wrong: You have two choices.”
She added that her followers can “educate” her by saying things like, “I want you to understand this,” or they can say, “Fuck you, you whore, you ‘Tales from the Crypt,’ you Skeletor, you racist, you c*nt.”
Bethenny suggested that instead of slamming opinions, people should “have a conversation, have a dialogue” despite their political party affiliation.
“You’re either woke or MAGA. Is there nothing in between? ‘Cause I’m neither woke nor MAGA. You can fucking trust and believe,” she said, later adding, “This country needs a fucking dialogue. This country is not red or blue. This country is red, white and blue. This country is Puerto Rico, it’s Texas, it’s South Carolina, it’s New York, it’s Jewish, it’s Catholic, it’s Muslim, it’s fucking everything.”
