The subtitles during Bad Bunny’s performance at the Grammy Awards read “SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH”, prompting backlash from fans.
The very popular Puerto Rican artist started the show with a medley of songs in Spanish. Viewers, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have complained that the reductive transcription of the subtitles is “offensive”, “racist” and “ignorant”.
The discussion continued in Bad Bunny’s acceptance speech for Best Urban Album, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which he gave in Spanish and English. Then the subtitle says “SPEAK NOT ENGLISH”.
While Bad Bunny’s win may not have been known before the show, his act certainly was, leaving Grammy organizers and CBS to blame for not hiring a bilingual subtitler, Deadline noted. Several acts were transcribed on the screen, the entertainment website reported.
The depth of disrespect is within Bad Bunny’s reach, Twitter users pointed out. He was streamed more than Taylor Swift in recently released Spotify data and was second overall to Drake. But many felt he was treated like a second-class citizen at the ceremony.
The recent Sundance Film Festival was hit by a strike by jurors, including deaf Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, because subtitles did not work during the premiere of a competing film, “Magazine Dreams.”
CBS planned to use Spanish subtitles on a rerun of the Grammy Awards on the West Coast, sources told Deadline, but for many it was too late.
