A viral video showing Diplo dressed as one of the bushes from Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime show appears to be AI-generated.
Days after the show, Diplo shared a video of himself on Instagram wearing one of the “Bush Bunny” outfits with the caption "surprise."
However, as Billboard notes, the video contains several inconsistencies that suggest it is not authentic. For example, the costume Diplo wears differs from the taller, spikier versions seen during the broadcast. The clip also doesn’t show any of the set pieces featured in the halftime show. The biggest and most obvious giveaway is the stadium shown has a roof, unlike Levi's Stadium, which does not.
While Diplo did not appear to have taken part of the show, the show’s “la casita” did feature high-profile cameos including Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Karol G, and Young Miko.
Lady Gaga later made a surprise appearance to perform a salsa version of her Bruno Mars collaboration, “Die With A Smile.” Ricky Martin also appeared to sing an excerpt of “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii.”
The people hired to be trees for the halftime performance were reportedly paid $18.70 an hour for 70 hours of work, for a total of $1,309. The pay accounted for eight days of rehearsal and the actual game day (Feb. 8).
“Wearing a 50lb grass suit for 5 hours is not my ideal definition of fun but worth it for a 15min halftime show,” wrote one of the Bush Bunnies on X. “Benito is Boss of the year.”
He also mentioned that trees were told “to not move because ‘there's no wind in Puerto Rico.’”
Those background performers technically earned more direct pay from the show than Bad Bunny himself, since Super Bowl halftime headliners are not paid by the NFL.