“The influence of this man has never been seen before.”

Fat Joe honors ‘mega star’ and ‘revolutionary’ Bad Bunny as one of EW’s 2025 Entertainers of the Year

"The influence of this man has never been seen before."

December 23, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

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EW Entertainer of the Year Bad Bunny honored by Fat Joe. Credit:

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images; Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty Images

*He had a No. 1 album, with *Debí Tirar Más Fotos*. He performed a 31-show, sold-out residency that's estimated to have brought in some $400 million to the local Puerto Rico economy. He hosted the *Saturday Night Live* season 51 premiere. He earned six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year, and Song and Record of the Year for "DtMF" — the first time a Spanish-language artist has scored nominations in the top three categories in the same year. He was revealed as the Super Bowl 2026 halftime show headliner. Plus, he appeared in *Happy Gilmore 2*, *Caught Stealing*, and, well, how can we forget that Calvin Klein campaign? *

*Bad Bunny had a damn good year, kicking it off with an album that redefined the Latin genre (it nearly topped **'s list of Best Albums of the Year), reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (No. 8 overall for the year) and ending the year as No. 1 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums Chart. The album helped make him the most-streamed artist on Spotify in 2025, and he capped off his year touring internationally, which will resume in the new year.*

*Hip-hop artist (and now host of the podcast *Joe and Jada*, with Jadakiss) and fellow Puerto Rican Fat Joe is among those who went to San Juan for Bad Bunny's residency. He celebrates him as one of EW's Entertainers of the Year.***

***Check out the rest of **'s 2025 Entertainers of the Year.***

Bad Bunny performs during his 'No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí; Una Más' Residencia at Coliseo de Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2025.

Gladys Vega/Getty

Bad Bunny isn’t just an entertainer — he’s what you call a mega star. The influence of this man has never been seen before. Sure, we’ve had Latino stars, sure, we've had big stars, but nothing like this man. And the thing about Bad Bunny is, he could be the boy next door — he's some guy you grew up with. To think that maybe 10 years ago he was packing bags in the supermarket to now selling out stadiums and being the number one streaming artist — this man has defied all the odds. He was nominated at the Grammys in the English category, the first Spanish-speaking musician to ever do it, so that shows you his power and his influence.

This guy decided he would do a residency in Puerto Rico, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars for the island of Puerto Rico, and the people came to him. I went there, and when the plane landed, the pilot didn’t say “Welcome to Puerto Rico” or “Welcome to San Juan,” he said, “Welcome to Bad Bunny.” I'm Puerto Rican, and that residency meant everything to me. I flew there with my family, we invested in the economy, we had the best time of our lives. Then we came home, and the next day, I went to my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in New York City, called Casa Adela. I eat there all the time, and for the first time ever, everybody in there gave me a standing ovation and started clapping when I walked in. They were just so happy that somebody from New York, a guy like Fat Joe, supported Bad Bunny and went there. They saw what it was. He unifies pretty much all the Latino coaches. He was just in Colombia with J Balvin at his show — he's a special guy.

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In hip-hop, we always had a thing against people preaching and being so strong on it, so we had to mix it within the lyrics, having a good time. Bad Bunny's whole album is talking about gentrification in Puerto Rico, his grandmother being forced to sell her house, a tribute to the older artists, with the south side mixing it in with the reggaeton. The whole album is revolutionary. So in the nicest of ways, you know, he's a revolutionary. But while you're having a fun time, he slips the lyrics in there and what's important to help educate people. And that's what the whole residency was set up like: You see people picking cotton…it was like *Hamilton*, but in concert.

When Bad Bunny was announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show headliner, I was so proud of him. He’s a very intelligent guy, and he’s handled the backlash with grace; I don't think he deserves any of it. He's the number one streaming artist on earth — obviously, he’s got fans. He's gonna rock the Super Bowl like none other, and he deserves the Super Bowl halftime show. There's no way you’re gonna throw on Bad Bunny and not have a party and a great time. And I think that's the best thing that comes across with this heated political climate right now; he's the guy you go to to have a great time. I'm so proud of him, and all the Puerto Rican people are proud of him. This guy makes me proud to be Latino. I'm happy for him, and he deserves everything he’s got coming to him. I think there's many more accolades in the future.

*—As told to Gerrad Hall*

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Music”