Logan Paul praised Super Bowl halftime performers and took his boxing brother Jake Paul to task late on Sunday after the latter called six-time Grammy winner Bad Bunny a "fake American."
Internet star and influencer Logan Paul, 30, said he loves his brother, but couldn't let him slide over incendiary comments he made about the popular musician who grew up in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico — a family divide that encapsulated the national controversy over the Bad Bunny show.
"I love my brother but I don’t agree with this," Logan Paul wrote on X late Sunday night.
"Puerto Ricans are Americans & I’m happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island," Logan Paul said.
Several hours earlier, Jake Paul, 29, vowed on X to turn off the Super Bowl when Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, took the stage. He framed his disdain for Bad Bunny as a grassroots campaign against corporate America.
"Purposefully turning off the halftime show," according to Jake Paul.
"Let’s rally together and show big corporations they can’t just do whatever they want without consequences (which equals viewership for them). You are their benefit. Realize you have power. Turn off this halftime. A fake American citizen performing who publicly hates America. I cannot support that."
A community note attached to Jake Paul's anti-Bad Bunny message reminded readers that the Puerto Rican native is, in fact, an American — just like fellow island resident Jake Paul.
Puerto Rican residents have been identified as U.S. citizens since 1917, according to the note.
"Additionally, Jake Paul, who has lived in Puerto Rico since 2021, still would technically qualify as a US citizen," the note added.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose parents both trace their roots to Puerto Rico, also tore into Jake Paul on Monday, accusing him of moving to the island territory "to avoid paying your taxes while kids across America go hungry."
"Meanwhile Benito actually funds low income kids’ access to arts and sports programs, while you defund them," she said in a statement. "Of course you’re mad. He makes you look small."
Jake Paul began clarifying his original comments about Bad Bunny on Monday morning, saying he wasn't calling into question anyone's actual citizenship status.
"I wasn’t calling anyone a 'fake citizen' because they’re from Puerto Rico. I live in Puerto Rico, and I love Puerto Rico," Jake Paul wrote on X.
The influencer-turned-boxer equated criticism of recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions to "being a fake citizen."
"But if you’re publicly criticizing ICE who are doing their job and openly hating on America, I’m going to speak on it," according to Jake Paul. "If you benefit from a country and the platform it gives you, but publicly disrespect it at the same time, that’s what I mean by being a fake citizen."
A week before the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny took the stage at the Grammy's while winning best música urbana album for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” and declared "ICE out."
“We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans,” he said during his acceptance speech.
