Bad Bunny Refuses to Tour the U.S.: “F*cking ICE Could Be Outside [My Concert]”

Bad Bunny has never separated music from politics. The global superstar has used his stage to protest gender violence, colonialism, and corruption. Now he is using silence as protest, skipping the United States entirely on his new world tour.

 

In a recent i-D interview, Bad Bunny was asked if the decision was connected to the mass deportations of Latinos in the United States. He did not hesitate.

 

“Man, honestly, yes. There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the U.S. But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the U.S… People from the U.S. could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world. But there was the issue of—like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”

 

The financial weight of that choice is staggering. The United States is the largest music market in the world, with the live sector estimated to be worth $15.4 billion in 2025. Bad Bunny has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of that market. His 2024 Most Wanted Tour grossed $211.4 million in North America alone, moving more than 753,000 tickets across 49 U.S. shows. His 2022 World’s Hottest Tour grossed more than $314 million from its stadium run, the vast majority of it in American cities. By refusing to perform in the U.S. this time, he is leaving hundreds of millions of dollars behind, money that would have flowed to him, to promoters, to cities, and to thousands of workers. In cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, which normally see enormous boosts from touring acts, the loss is significant. Taylor Swift’s six-night run in Los Angeles in 2023, for instance, was estimated to generate $320 million in local economic impact. Bad Bunny’s absence denies cities a similar windfall.

 

Yet the decision is less about money than about climate. Across the country, festivals and cultural events celebrating Latino heritage have been cancelled over fears of ICE raids. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the Annual Salvadoran Festival was called off after organizers cited safety concerns. In Kenner, Louisiana, the city’s Hispanic Heritage Fest was cancelled for the same reason. In rural Indiana, the long-running Festival Latino was pulled off the calendar this fall, and in Washington state, two Hispanic cultural events in Burien were cancelled due to community anxiety about enforcement. ICE never had to show up. The cancellations themselves demonstrate the point: the threat is enough to silence culture. If it can erase small-town festivals, it can just as easily weigh on one of the world’s biggest stars who sees his audience reflected in those communities.

 

Bad Bunny may be the loudest voice right now, but he is not alone. Becky G, Ivan Cornejo, and Maná condemned recent raids, warning about the trauma they inflict on fans and families. Finneas was tear-gassed while protesting and publicly blasted immigration enforcement.

 

Doechii used her BET Awards acceptance speech to call out ICE and the administration’s response. Shakira has described the raids as "painful to see," while San Antonio rapper Hoodlum has embedded the fear and grief of enforcement directly into his lyrics.

 

What makes Bad Bunny’s stand unusual is scale. Most artists criticize from the stage but still play the market. Few walk away from hundreds of millions in ticket sales. In doing so, he shifts the calculus from performance to principle, making visible a fear that immigrant communities already live with every day.

 

Instead of U.S. arenas, he is centering his residency in Puerto Rico. Symbolically, it flips the axis of power: fans must come to him. Practically, it keeps his shows on U.S. soil while sidestepping the mainland environments he considers unsafe. The absence is not just a gap in a tour schedule; it is a statement, a refusal, and a reminder that joy is political when some fans cannot dance without looking over their shoulder. Bad Bunny has built a career out of breaking rules. This time, the rule he broke was unwritten: that artists must play the U.S. to stay on top. He is betting that presence in Puerto Rico and absence from the mainland will say more than any encore could. And it leaves us with an uncomfortable question: if the fear of ICE can silence a tour, what else is being silenced every day that we never see or hear?