This Puerto Rican Sign Language Interpreter Elevated Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Show And Also Made History
“The audience can feel the vibrations and know if I’m moving according to the song’s beat.”
Puerto Rican sign language interpreter and performer Celimar Rivera Cosme made history signing Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show in Puerto Rican Sign Language (LSPR) on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Shaped by the island’s culture and history, LSPR, La Lengua de Señas Puertorriqueña or Puerto Rican Sign Language, has evolved into its own distinct language different from American Sign Language (ASL).
Rivera Cosme’s collaboration with Bad Bunny began in 2022, when she posted a video online asking the artist to make his music performances more accessible to the deaf community in Puerto Rico.
The video went viral, prompting Bad Bunny’s team to reach out to her to discuss how to improve the experience for the community.
Since then, she has worked alongside Bad Bunny, becoming an interpreter at his 2022 “World’s Hottest Tour”.
On Nov. 30, 2025, the NFL chose Rivera Cosme, who is partially deaf, to lead the halftime show's first “multilingual signing program incorporating Puerto Rican Sign Language”, alongside Puerto Rican ASL interpreter Julian Ortiz.
Ahead of the Super Bowl performance, she said she hoped she would honor the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Puerto Rico.
“The most important thing is to emphasize that we have our own language, our own identity, our own culture,” Rivera Cosme told ABC News.
Her performance blended expressive signing with dance moves to convey the rhythm and beat of the music.
“The audience can feel the vibrations and know if I’m moving according to the song’s beat,” she explained to Billboard back in 2022 about her interpretation style. “Facial expressions and body language are a huge part of it.”
Sofia Hou
