Puerto Rican Rapper Bad Bunny Kisses Male Backup Dancer Live At The VMAs

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, created waves the other day after kissing one of his male backup dancers halfway through his performance of his hit song ‘Titi Me Pregunto’.

Bad Bunny Is The First Non-English Speaking Artist To win Artist of the Year

Just moments after winning the coveted artist of the year award, beating out the likes of Lizzo, Harry Styles, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X and Drake, one of Bad Bunny’s female backup dancers pulled him aside for a kiss. Bad Bunny then turned and smooched with one of his male backup dancers on his other side.

Bad Bunny shares kiss with backup dancers during his #VMAs performance. pic.twitter.com/7scFV32c9h

— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 29, 2022

While many of Bad Bunny’s fans defended his actions, this has also caused quite a spark on social media as many believe Bad Bunny is queerbaiting. Queerbaiting, by definition, refers to the practice of implying queer relationships or attraction to engage LGBTQ+ audiences without actually depicting these queer relationships.

Bad Bunny Fans Have Praised Him For This Same-Sex Kiss

Throughout his career, Bad Bunny has constantly challenged the Latino stereotype of being ‘machismo’ and very masculine, which has led to a lot of homophobia towards him in the South American media. Many of his fans have jumped to his defence due to this reason saying it’s just another way that he is breaking the typical stereotypes of a ‘manly man’.

Many of Bad Bunny’s fans have taken to Twitter to show their support and respect for Bad Bunny after this kiss. “Bad Bunny, outspoken advocate for queer rights, trans especially, famously anti-toxic masculinity, has respectfully performed in full drag several times himself, heatedly kissing a man on stage, is apparently queerbaiting”, one Twitter user wrote.

Adam Lambert Faced Backlash After Kissing His Keyboard Player In 2009

People have compared Bad Bunny’s kiss to Adam Lambert’s same-sex kiss with his keyboard player in 2009. There was a lot of backlash and controversy surrounding Adam Lambert, a gay man, kissing another man, but when a straight man kisses another man is praised for it in the media.

Two men kissing is sort of old news.
2009 Adam Lambert shares kiss with his lead guitarist during his #AMAs performance. Unfortunately, the response he received was much less positive than the one…#MadeHistory #Homophobia pic.twitter.com/Nv7pcBB6Z6

— DILAMBERT (@dianik_bg) August 30, 2022

While Bad Bunny has received a lot of support about the kiss many have called him out for ‘queerbaiting’ and the double standards portrayed in the media. In an interview with the LA times Bad Bunny says he identifies as straight but one day he could fall in love with a man, “One never knows in life.”