Chris Brown shades Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show: 'They need me'

Chris Brown sparked conversation during Super Bowl weekend after posting a brief but pointed message that many interpreted as a comment on the NFL’s halftime show.

Shortly after Bad Bunny took the stage for the Super Bowl LX halftime performance, Brown shared an Instagram Story that read: “I THINK ITS SAFE TO SAY.. THEY NEED ME! 😏” The post did not mention the Super Bowl, the NFL, or Bad Bunny by name, but the timing led many to assume Brown was positioning himself as a future halftime headliner.

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Brown has never performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, despite a career that includes multiple chart-topping albums, arena tours, and a catalog of hits spanning nearly two decades. His post appeared to lean into that résumé, framing his comment as a statement about his perceived value as a live performer rather than a direct critique of the show itself.

The NFL does not publicly campaign artists for the halftime slot, and performers are typically announced months in advance. Brown’s message offered no further explanation, and he did not follow up with additional commentary clarifying his intent.

While Brown remains one of the most commercially successful R&B artists of his generation, his career has also been marked by well-documented legal issues that continue to follow him. In 2009, he was convicted of assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. Years later, Rihanna addressed the incident in a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, describing it as domestic abuse and emphasizing that it was not something to be minimized.

“It’s a very serious thing that is still relevant; it’s still real,” Rihanna said at the time. “It’s not a subject to sweep under the rug.”

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Brown has faced additional allegations and legal trouble over the years, including arrests and lawsuits related to assault claims. Most recently, he appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London in 2025 in connection with an alleged incident at a nightclub. In June, the accuser requested that a related civil lawsuit be dismissed, though Brown still faces criminal charges and has pleaded not guilty.