In early February 2026, an image purporting to show singer Bad Bunny wearing a dress while holding a burning American flag onstage circulated widely online. The image prompted angry reactions from some users, who framed it as evidence of anti-American sentiment by the artist, who is an American citizen.
The rumor spread amid backlash over the NFL's decision to tap Bad Bunny for the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, including calls to boycott the performance from prominent conservative figures such as U.S. President Donald Trump.
The image spread widely on social media, with one Facebook post (archived) sharing it alongside a caption that read:
Bad Bunny caught on stage last night preparing for his SuperBowl Halftime show, are you excited about his performance, he's the biggest artist in the world, and he does NOT support ICE, and thinks America is going backwards. I guess much like most celebrities.
(Facebook user Qbanguy)
However, the image did not depict a real event. Rather, it was generated with artificial intelligence and originated from a social media account that describes itself as satirical. No reputable news organizations reported that Bad Bunny burned an American flag — an incident that would almost certainly have drawn widespread coverage and video documentation if it had actually occurred.
Investigating the image's origins
The image traced back to a Facebook account named Qbanguy that labels its posts as satire. In its profile description, the account describes itself as an "AI funny content" page and says the content it shares is "100% Not Real everything is Satire." The account has posted other clearly fabricated images of Bad Bunny in similarly provocative setups — including depictions of him wearing a dress and holding signs that read "ICE OUT" and "F*** ICE."
There was also visual evidence that indicated the image was AI-generated, including blurriness, inconsistent lighting, and distorted details. Lead Stories, a fact-checking organization, noted that "the flag in the picture only has six red stripes while the real article features seven."
Hive Moderation, an online AI detector, determined that the image was highly likely to be AI-generated. (Such detectors are not always accurate, and their results should be considered with other evidence.)
(Hive Moderation)
We also ran the image through Google Gemini's SynthID check, a tool that scans for embedded watermarks by artificial intelligence software. That scan detected a SynthID watermark and concluded the image was "generated or edited with Google AI."
(Google Gemini)
The same image was later repurposed into short videos that circulated across social media. Those clips were animated from the still image — and they displayed obvious AI artifacts, such as the flag changing size and shape as it burned.
All in all, the image allegedly showing Bad Bunny burning an American flag did not document a real event. It was digitally generated and originated from a satirical social media account.
Bad Bunny is often the target of internet rumors. We've fact-checked a range of rumors about him and the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show — including claims about an "alternative" halftime show and bogus stories about sponsors pulling out from the event.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.