Bethenny Frankel defended Bad Bunny after her former Real Housewives of New York City costar Jill Zarin slammed his Super Bowl LX halftime performance.
Frankel took to TikTok to post a video February 9, to praise the Puerto Rican rapper’s set as authentic and inspirational.
“Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican man in America on the largest stage in the world, which is very inspirational to people because that is him expressing his experience in his first language,” she explained.
Frankel compared his artistry to country and hip hop performers, saying each genre reflects its own culture and struggles.
“If it’s a country artist, they are expressing their experience and their music and their culture. If it’s a hip hop artist — I love Notorious B.I.G. and talking about his come up and what he couldn’t afford when he was eating Sardines for dinner.”
She summed it up with a nod to Madonna, “Express yourself.”
Zarin had a very different reaction to the enthralling and star-studded performance at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
In a now deleted video, she called the halftime show “the worst ever” and criticized Bad Bunny for performing in Spanish and for his onstage gestures.
“You’ve got all these young kids watching the Super Bowl, and he doesn’t have to be grabbing himself every five seconds because he’s so insecure,” she said, adding that she wished she understood the lyrics since she doesn’t speak Spanish.
The 62-year-old’s comments quickly circulated online sparking backlash.
