Bad Bunny keeps breaking records: 7 Emmy Awards for his Super Bowl halftime show

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held in Los Angeles as a curtain-raiser to the big televised ceremony on 14 September, made Bad Bunny one of the standout stars of the night. The Puerto Rican artist has picked up seven awards thanks to his show during the Super Bowl LX halftime. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The production, presented under the official title "The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny", came into this year's Emmys with a notable distinction. Last July it became the music production in this format with the highest number of nominations, nine in total, since the awards were created, surpassing the record held by Lady Gaga since 2017. The Television Academy has now recognised the technical ambition and creativity of the Latin spectacular with seven statuettes. Among them are Outstanding Music Direction, for Brazilian Miguel Gandelman, and Outstanding Choreography for Variety Programming, for choreographers Charm La'Donna and Karina Ortiz. The show also picked up awards for technical direction, lighting design, sound mixing and directing for a special programme. Bad Bunny's presence at this year's awards has not been confined to sport and music. His work as a host has also been recognised, as the episode of "Saturday Night Live" he fronted in late 2025 won the Emmy for Outstanding Make-up in the variety, non-fiction or reality category. This has been a record-breaking year for Bad Bunny, who has already received a 2026 Grammy and a 2026 Latin Grammy, putting Spanish-language music among the most streamed and most awarded in the world. His run of success seems set to continue with these 7 Emmy awards. A continental message before millions of viewers The singer used the biggest audience platform on US television to champion the concept of America as a whole continent, and not simply as a synonym for the United States. The show ended with a commemorative football bearing the slogan "Together we're America" ("Juntos somos América"), accompanied by a parade featuring the flags and names of every country in the region, from Canada to Chile. The nominations for this edition were announced by actress Liza Colón-Zayas, of Puerto Rican origin and known for her role in the series "The Bear", alongside comedian Jeff Hiller. The 2026 Emmy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 14 September at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Other winners from the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys Bad Bunny's success was not the only story of the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys. His Super Bowl show finished as the most awarded programme of the evening, with seven statuettes, ahead of productions such as "The Traitors", which collected six, and "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert", with five. Stephen Colbert's programme, which brought an eleven-year run to a close in May, won the Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming for an episode featuring Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello, as well as the award for Outstanding Lighting Design and Direction for a Series for another instalment with Bruce Springsteen as guest. Disney+'s "The Muppet Show" took home four awards and prevailed in the Outstanding Pre-Recorded Variety Special category ahead of Taylor Swift, whose farewell tour special "Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour, The Final Show" was also in contention in that field. Sabrina Carpenter, who appeared in the Muppets special as executive producer and performer, thereby won her first Primetime Emmy. Other notable awards on the day included Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series for "Mr. Scorsese", the Apple TV production about filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Non-Fiction Programme for "Billy Joel, And So It Goes" on HBO Max. The "Blink Again" segment from the series "Sean Combs, The Reckoning" on Netflix won the Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Non-Fiction Programme. In the music field, Miguel Gandelman triumphed in the Outstanding Music Direction category for Bad Bunny's show and became only the third person to win that award for a Super Bowl halftime performance, following Adam Blackstone in 2022 and Kendrick Lamar with Tony Russell last year. Tyler Strickland, meanwhile, won Outstanding Music Composition for a documentary, non-fiction or reality programme for his work on "John Candy, I Like Me". Both secured their first Primetime Emmy as a result. Director Hamish Hamilton once again claimed the award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, this time for Bad Bunny's show. It is the third time he has won it in the past four years, after taking it in 2023 for Rihanna's halftime show, co-directed with Jay-Z, and in 2024 for his work on the Oscars ceremony. Actor and director Mariska Hargitay picked up two awards as producer and director of "My Mom Jayne, A Film by Mariska Hargitay", a documentary about her mother, actor Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay will also host the 78th edition of the Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast live on NBC on Monday 14 September from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with simultaneous streaming on Peacock. Of the 49 categories presented on Saturday, this was the outcome. Another 53 will be handed out this Sunday, on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys. Of those, only 19 will be included in the televised broadcast of the main ceremony on 14 September. Highlights from both creative arts ceremonies will air on Saturday 12 September at 20:00 (Pacific Time) on FXX, and will be available on Hulu from the following day.