Sounds Like A Cult - The Cult of Bad Bunny

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

This week, Chelsea is joined by culture critic and internet oracle Tefi Pessoa (@hellotefi) to take on The Cult of Bad Bunny… a global superstar whose fandom blurs the line between pop icon, political symbol, and cultural lightning rod. We’re unpacking why Bad Bunny inspires a level of devotion that feels almost religious, how his gender expression and fluid masculinity have become a flashpoint in our current hyper-conservative moment, and why his very existence seems to short-circuit traditional ideas of power, patriotism, and Latinidad. From parasocial fan entitlement to moral panics disguised as “concern,” we explore how fandom, identity, and backlash collide.  Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Join the loyalty program for renters at https://joinbilt.com/cult To learn more about how to support Minnesota’s immigrant communities, check out this MSP Mag article, which shares several ways to offer help or find support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations. The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. I feel like the gender expression hits such a nerve because it challenges this hyper-conservatism movement that we're seeing as a direct reflection of the time. And it's like where masculinity is being aggressively politely. in response to cultural shifts. So like you see, the incels, the manisphere, the red pill bros, I think Bad Bunny is a direct challenge to that whole world.

And it's just so interesting to me. Also, the people of color or anybody like Latin in the United States, they had to leave their country. So sometimes the ideology and traditions are all they have left. So for you to like question that or push against that, you're pushing against the only ideas of home that they have left. This is Sounds Like a Colt, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I'm your co-host, Chelsea Charles, an unscripted TV producer, lifelong student of pop culture sociology, and one-fourth of the dynamic quartet at Sounds Like a Colt.

On today's episode, it's just me and our guest. Every week on the show, we discuss a different zeitgeisty group that puts the cult in culture from Lulu Lemon to Harry Potter to try to answer. answer the big question, this group sounds like a cults, but is it really? And if so, which of our cult categories does it fall into? Is it a live your life, a watch your back, or get the fuck out? After all, cultish influence falls on a continuum these days, and look, the word cult can mean a lot of things. It's subjective and context-dependent, sometimes sensational, other times useful, Other times cheeky and fun, this show, as those who've been listening for a while know,

is all about analyzing the ways cultishness shows up in everyday life. To examine the ways in which we are all susceptible to cult influence, but to also compare how not all cults these days are created equal. And to have a laugh about it along the way. Today, we're diving into a movement built on fantasy of cultural salvation through sound, style, and swagger, a fandom adored for its devotion, ritual, and the promise of emotional and identity-level transformation.

Listen, Coltis, these aren't just music fans or reggaeton listeners. They're devotees of a vibe and a reimagined worldview. You've seen them everywhere, in chrome glasses, and leather pants on TikTok, in stadiums packed like cathedrals, chanting every lyric as if it were scripture, treating a Puerto Rican pop star as both heartthrob and holy figure. Today, we're talking about bad bunny. Now, Coltys, when someone reaches this level of worship, backlash and scandal are never far behind. Sometimes it feels like where do we even begin?

Do we start with the parisocial entitlement of fans when he went public? with his relationship with Kendall Jenner, or the fan's interpretation of his fashion choices as either an attack on hypermasculinity or simply performative activism. Or the recent uproar over him headlining the Super Bowl halftime show with conservative critics framing it as anti-American

or too sexual, while fans reframing the backlash as cultural persecution. But to understand why this hit so hard, we have to go back to the very beginning. Before the fame, before Benito became Bad Bunny. Okay. So Bad Bunny's origin story hits extra hard because it's a very Caribbean, very working class, a very I-made-it-out narrative rooted in a real place with real people. Born Benito, Antonio Martinez Ocasio, on March 10th, 1994, he grew up in the Almorante Cerbarrio of Vega, Puerto Rico, a small coastal town on the north central part of the island. His father, Tito Martinez,

drove trucks for a living, and his mother, Lissari Ocasio, was a schoolteacher who filled their home with salsa, marangay, and romantic ballads, creating a musical backdrop long before before he ever dreamed of being a global star. Now, before Benito had Mucha Novia, he was just a kid in a church choir singing every Sunday with his devoutly Catholic mother until he was about 13, which became the formative training

for his voice and sense of performance. In high school, photos and memories show a young Bonito, clutching a microphone at talent shows, already testing the magnetic, presence. After high school, he studied at University of Puerto Rico in audiovisual communications, while he simultaneously bagged groceries at a local grocery store. Young Benito soaked up everything from Vico C and Daddy Yankee to salsa on family road trips, and he even made mixtapes for relatives before he eventually began dropping tracks on SoundCloud. Now he was a SoundCloud rapper, which

just spawned his initial online buzz. One of those early uploads, Diles, caught the attention of Puerto Rican producer and reggaeton heavyweight DJ Lujan. Luyan heard that track online in 2016 and instantly saw something special in it, signing Benito to his label, hear the music. And the rest is history. So, Coltis, today we're joined by Teffi, one of the sharpest minds in pop culture, someone who understands that celebrities don't just entertain anymore.

They shape how we see ourselves. No one proves that right more than Bad Bunny, a global star, a cultural symbol, and a lightning rod for everything from gender to politics. As he heads into the Super Bowl spotlight, Taffy helps us unpack why his fandom feels less like a fan base and more like a belief system. My fellow culties, quick breaking news moment,

I could not let this episode go without acknowledging Bad Bunny's big win at the Grammy Awards. But more importantly, his choice to use that global stage to openly condemn ICE, calling out the U.S. government's occupation tactics and the ongoing mistreatment of immigrant communities. In a moment where so many artists play it safe, Bad Bunny did quite the opposite. He leveraged visibility and cultural power to say something political. That wasn't just an award speech. It was a reminder that pop stardom, can still function as protest. And if it made anyone uncomfortable, well, good.

Okay, back to our scheduled programming. First of all, I just want to welcome you to the pod. We really appreciate you joining, specifically to talk about the cults of Bad Bunny. I really want to know, what's your relationship with Bad Bunny? I mean, growing up in Miami, you always wanted to be aware of new and up-and-coming artists. And I think one of the first times I really heard him was on Jay Balvin tracks or he would be on carpets for events like Premios Huentout. So he was like a new face in the Latin music world. And there is a kind of scarcity mindset when it comes to artists who are Latin and trying to become like mainstream.

In Miami, for example, there's definitely people's like, I've been listening to City Girls since 700 BC. One of my first memories So piqued my interest and his voice was very unique at the time. He had like a different pitch. He was like, not lower. And then I think when he started becoming more comfortable being himself, people started to really pay more attention to him. I mean, his music was already so good.

But there was a softer side that he started to let people see. And I think that also made people very curious. Because all of a sudden he went from regattonero to he reminds me of my brother. He became more relatable, the more he became himself, you know? I love that. Okay, so were you listening to him in SoundCloud days? No, but I do remember he used to be in a truck,

in the back of a truck with speakers driving around like Harlem and the Bronx and my friends used to tell me, oh, that bad bunny guy is driving around blasting his music with his friends driving and he would have a mic. Oh, I love that. I know, that's like some real like marketing, you know what I? Yeah, no, absolutely. Marketing, yeah.

So in your opinion, at what point, Do you think Bad Bunny stopped being just a musician and started becoming more of like a cultural symbol where people would project their values onto him? Of course, his political songs. Also, a lot of Latin people love American country music because of the storytelling that happens. And Latin music is really, really similar. Marcelo Hernandez just had a stand-up where American music, American country music specifically, will be like, my girl left and I have no idea why.

I came home when she was gone. where, like, Latin people will be like, I know exactly what I did. I wish you could come back so I could fix it. I can't believe I did that I'm disgraced with myself. Started kind of incorporating that in reggaeton music. Regetton is a lot like hip-hop where someone's like, I got 55 of you bitches. What is Gucci-Main saying? A girls are like buses every 15, a new one coming.

Next, next one coming. So there was like this softness qualities, this romantic quality, and then also talking about the love for his country. Yes. And I think when it comes to Latindad, there's a lot of, like, you have to be strong, Nothing getting the way. I think of like Jay-Z 99 problems when he gets shot up 99 times and he's like, he keeps like walking.

But there was this vulnerability and this transparency of loving his country and loving his girl or being like, I know I'm toxic, but I want to do better if we could just have tonight. Those kind of sentiments felt more realistic and more approachable and more familiar versus I have 20 chains on my neck, bitches in my DMs. That kind of change. I always say that whenever I dance to bed bunny, I'm like, why am I sobbing and throwing ass? Like, I, I particular feeling of, like, sentiment and nostalgia, but also excitement for tomorrow, because tomorrow might be a beautiful day and you can go to the beach.

What a complex storyteller, like, make you cry and throw ass? I went to see bad money in concert and I was like, well, why am I hysterically over-mouse thombing with my hand on my knees? Like, crazy. Okay, so I want to talk a little bit about that softness that you're talking about. His nail polish, skirts, makeup, and soft masculinity have been revolutionary for a lot of people, but also deeply threatening to others. Why do you think gender expression hits such a nerve?

Well, I think in my lived experience in a Latin community, I think that you can have the gay uncle as long as he doesn't talk about it. And like in the movies, he helps you with your blowout. He helps you get your makeover. And a lesbian on is to never be spoken to ever again, but we love her roommate. You know? I just said, these are things that are always kind of like hidden or kept secret. It's a lot of shame.

So I think the modern approach to sexuality and Latindad is so interesting to me because it's so, so different. And a lot of the music and a lot of the references and a lot of things that he talks about and sings about are old music that our grandparents listen to or dance to. I think that a lot of the musical references, a lot of the double entendras and stuff, or even having Bad Bunny have his grandmother on a track being like, oh, life is so short, whatever, whatever. There is this old school sentiment. And then to have Bad Bunny wearing a breastplate also is like fucking insane.

I think that he always honors who he is and where he comes from. And sometimes those two places don't meet in ideology. So that can be kind of conflicting for people. I can totally see my grandparents dancing to his music at a party and being like, oh my God, I know this sample. the same time seeing him maybe in nail polish, there is an expectation of masculinity that Bad Bunny is showing.

Like, I have more money than God and I'm wearing a new set. That's really interesting and fun to see. Yep. I think a lot of young Latin people are so tired of the tropes and the gender roles. You know what? Not even Latin people.

I think people in general are so sick of the ways that we're supposed to be in order to be successful. You probably know, too, like, oh, if I don't climb this invisible corporate ladder, I'm never going to be successful. And the internet and representation and seeing the different ways people live have changed the idea of success and what success means. And I love that.

I do too. I resonate so deeply with everything you said because obviously I think there are several layers to this, right? Because there is some intersectionality there with Latin communities specifically and just communities of color where we have to suppress certain layers to our identity because you have to be this model one thing to kind of fit in. And then the other layer for me is I feel like the gender expression hits such a nerve because it challenges this hyper-conservatism movement that we're seeing as a direct reflection of the time. And it's like where masculinity is being

aggressively policed in response to cultural shifts. So like you see like the in cells, the Manosphere, the Red Pill Bros. I think Bad Bunny is a direct challenge to that whole world. And it's just so interesting to me. Also, the people of color or anybody like Latin in the United States, they had to leave their country. So sometimes the ideology and traditions are all they have left. So for you to like question that or push against that,

you're pushing against the only ideas of home that they have left because my mom would be like, out there's the United States here. This is Medellin. You know what I mean? The way I'm raising you. as a way that I was raised in my country. Now streaming on Paramount Plus, it began on the shores of New Jersey.

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New original series, now streaming on Paramount Plus. Okay, so I want to shift a little bit to talking about the Super Bowl. And when Bat Bunny was announced as a part of the Super Bowl circus, the internet basically was split overnight. It suddenly wasn't just about music or football. It was about who gets to stand on the most American hypervascular. flagged during stage for the world. And for his fans, his presence felt like more of a spiritual win for the Latin community

and the gender-bending cool. But for critics, it felt like invasion. And for me, that is exactly what teeters into cult-like territory. So we're about to see Bad Bunny. I'm one of the most conservative, American, hyper-masculine, stages unimaginable. What does that moment feel like? Why does it feel so charged? I mean, it's interesting you said the word invasion.

Would it be so bad if we invaded back? Okay. Period. Period. Sometimes I feel like when I look at these conversations online, it reminds me of like, I want the golden goose daddy and I want it now. Like, God forbid we have a good time. And I've gone to so many different weddings of different cultures.

Persian. I've gone to Indian weddings. And the music is music. And I'm up there dancing. Do I know what they're saying? Who cares? Who gives a fuck? I just think the idea.

The idea of what is good and American has become so boring and so rigid. I grew up in the United States where my dad was rollerblading down Ocean Drive in a yellow speedo. That's my America. The America of people like shooting at tin cans of the rifle, I've never known that America. I would block that America. I'd be like, guys, America is really starting to kind of concern me. He's changing.

So it's so weird because seeing him on stage is the America I've always known. Yes. Oh, wow. But I think the backlash has shown me just how much people don't like people who live and talk and grew up like me. So it's been a kind of a weird experience of people being like, this is America where people speak English. I'm like, I would love for you to go walk down Little Havana and order a coffee in English. Right. I mean, maybe now you can, but not the America that I grew up in, you know? Right.

So I think that people should stay angry, should stay mad. It's making him a lot of money. And there's nothing I love more than seeing a man in a manicure make a lot of money. You bitches want sensitive men, but you don't want a bisexual, a leading man who's saying Spanish and can dance a little bit with his very beautiful curls. I can always rely on him to make me cry, to make me dance, and to have a good time. And you bitches want what, Creed? Go get Creed.

It is, and I hate to bring it back to Beyonce, but I'm always going to bring it back to Beyonce. It is oddly reminiscent of when there was so much backlash regarding the Cowboy Carter album. It's so funny because Beyonce and I, grew up three hours apart. She's from Houston. I'm from a town in Louisiana called Lafayette. And you show up to the gas station. There are black people that are riding on horses at the gas station. We have trail rides. We have Zadico. Black people are speaking French in the grocery store. And when people tried to challenge this idea that there's no way that she's country and I'm like, bitch, have you ever been to Houston? What are you talking about? I think bitches are

bored. I don't know if it's an unemployment crisis. I don't know if it's a boredom crisis. I don't know what it is, but I think bitches are really, really bored. Like sometimes when I go online and people are like, oh, say you're telling me a Puerto Rican man is going to be on stage. I'm like, I think Stephen Tyler has probably seen more penis than Bad Bunny. And I look at Stephen Tyler's wardrobe and I go, where the fuck do I get those jeans? It's a gorgeous. I think that we are way more interesting as Americans than we let ourselves be.

Like, we have so much to express so much culture, so many languages. And when Bad Bunny says, is he going to do something he always does. Whenever he says that he's going to show up on this day at that time to talk about whatever it is to have an album that talks about the love for his country. What is more American than getting up on a stage and talking about the love of your country and waving your flag? But unless it looks blonde and blue-eyed, we don't want it. It's very annoying. And most of the Cuban people that I know are blonde and blue-eyed. Make up your minds.

They are. And they can cuss you out front to back. Oh, I go, all right, Maria. Fuck. It won't be late next time. Oh, my God. Oh my God. Okay.

So what do you think scares people more? His Spanish lyrics or the refusal to perform masculinity in the right way? I think what scares people the most is not knowing what he's saying. Yeah. Not being in on it because Americans or like this idea of America, an eagle. Like behind me. Yeah. Being involved in everything, having your hand in everything, having control of everything.

It's kind of like having like a. overbearing mother. Sometimes I think of like that part of America that like Red Pill America as the mom in Carrie, she's like, you're dirty pillows. You can't go outside and like locks her in the closet. Like Miss Trenchable and Miss fucking Trenchable. That's how I picture like these people. They want control everything.

They want to know what you're doing, know what you're saying, know what you're wearing, and why. And being left out of that just in case they look stupid or they're out of control, scares them. I could not agree more. With me, it's always zero to 100. It's never like gray area. It just, I know that it's important to be able to think in nuance, but sometimes I'm just like, when those people have conversations, they don't know what they're talking about and it scares them in a way.

And people have conversations like, oh, yeah, when I'm in a nail salon and I don't like when they're not speaking English. We're talking about your lunch, girl. And if you care so, wash your feet. If you cares about, wash your fucking feet. Okay, so you're xenophobic. Just say you're xenophobic. It's totally fine. Just say you're fucking nosy.

I'm like, these people, come on, dog. Meanwhile, I'm on Google Translate asking for the Wi-Fi password being like, and they're like, oh, we don't have Wi-Fi. I go, okay, I'm just sorry. Say list. And how can I make your day better, Elizabeth? Yeah, just you because you are touching my feet right now. Exactly. The xenophobia is so weird to me because they're like, if you ask an American person, where they're from, they're like, well, I'm a little bit of a mix.

And I'm like, what kind of mix? And they're like, Danish, Swedish, a little Finnish. but mostly like French and also a little a Sicilian. I'm surprised. You want to be exotic so, so bad. You don't want to do one thing. But they're like, but get these immigrants out of this country. I'm like, but you're just sad.

So it's a very confusing. I think bad bunny makes people confront that part of themselves. Absolutely. And I like that. It's so sexy. I just, oh my God. I don't want to push people's buttons. I want him to take the button and rip it off.

Yes. And now what? Now your shirtless and naked in front of everybody. Loser. Loser! Loser! Oh my God. Okay.

So when Bad Bunny dates someone like Kendall Jenner or does something that fans don't like, the reaction feels like a betrayal. Why does this disappointment hit so hard with him? Like, why is that such a big deal? Because once you start dipping your toes into political commentary or like if you are someone that is seen as like someone who's looking to preserve Latin spaces. Yes. And you start dating the finest white girl.

It does seem like a betrayal of sorts. But again, it is part of the Latin experience. We have all done it. We have all been with people that don't care about our culture where we come from that want us to be part of their world and they don't want to be part of our world. We have all dated someone that could care less about our beginnings or what's going on in our country or doesn't understand our music. It doesn't care to learn our language.

We have all dated somebody like that or many people like that. So at the end of the day, it is forgivable because our ancestors also trusted people that felt the same way. But I think this parissocial relationship that he's created in the beginning, in order for him to survive as an artist, he has to let that go. Where before I think he was much, even people like Taylor Swift, they were much more personal with their fans. But in order for them to live their lives and continue making music about mistakes and things they should have done or hindsight or like loving their community, they have. to not be as parisocial. But I don't know a man on this earth that wouldn't date Kendall Jenner. She's fucking beautiful.

She's beautiful. She's like independently wealthy. She has her own interests. Do I think that she's like the best choice? No. I think that they were maybe too different and maybe both of them were not willing to meet each other in the middle from what I have seen. Yeah.

But say Levy, you know, people are way too hard on him for his personal choices. And you know what it is? I've made videos about this. He seems bag of. My cousin, 100 people think that she could bag him. If they saw each other, he is approachable and like normal. Like he comes up as like normal and approachable and kind and loves his family and we all have the same values. And because we have seen him hook up with fans, a bitch assumes that he is baggable.

So being with Kendall Jenner kind of pops that balloon a bit for girls. Here is my follow-up, the age-old question. Do we believe that this relationship was a real thing? Yes, I do. We do. I have it on like good authority that that was real. But I think there was a great like sexual chemistry and a newness, probably bad bunny and never in his mind thought that he could be with a Jenner Kardashian. And she also has never dated somebody, probably Latin. There's like newness there, you know, very exciting stuff. And I do think that they did care for each other. I think that maybe he cared for her more. But I do think it was real. All right. So in saying that, do you feel like, and this is where a cults. like themes will show up where you have this figure and the followers tend to push their ideals and their beliefs on him and feel like this sense of ownership.

Do you feel like fans have this sense of ownership because he represents something that's much more than music? 100%. He's also, I don't know, a lot of musical stars, artists at his stature that are posting shit like fuck Trump. He has balls to him. Like, he'll call out government officials by name. like especially in Puerto Rico, like the corruption.

I don't know a lot of people that are so publicly against anybody that's hurting his community in any way. You know, like to not want to tour in the United States in fear that people will go to his concerts and get rounded up by ice. That is another step. And that's a check. That's a bag for him. He has a lot of pride of where he comes from. And I think that when it comes to people of color or immigrants, there's a big community mindset. Like, we take care of us.

But when you have a lot of Latin American trauma, it's a lot of looking out for yourself. And I think that's why there's a lot of conservative Latin Americans. So for him to still be that independently wealthy and successful and still care about community is also so special. So I think that means a lot to people too. Yes. That was actually a perfect segue to my next question because I believe that Bat Bunny critiques capitalism, colonialism, exploitation, while also being one of the most profitable

brands in music. How do fans reconcile with that very evident contradiction? I don't think they do, and I think that's a really hard conversation. It's kind of like when you see somebody online being like socialism, communism, and I'm like, but you have a $50 million penhouse. Girl, I'll give you the wire right now. Why to me right now? I think that that's a tough conversation, but as long as celebrities are people of that status are seeing people like Bad Bunny continuing to send so much money to disaster efforts, elementary schools. At the end of the day,

it's so sad to say he's doing more than many. Absolutely. There's also the idea of like you can't win. It's like if he does it by name, then oh, he's doing it for PR. If he does it anonymously, well, he never does anything for anybody. Exactly.

I do not envy that. I don't envy that. It's a tough life. That's a tough, tough life. This paradox we consistently flirt with. as millennials are like people who live in a digital age because it's so interesting because it's like people who we love in music and fashion have these very, very important roles to be truth tellers, if they so choose, I guess. But they challenge the system through their art, but they are also

profiting heavily on the same systems that they're critiquing. And I fully, fully agree, like, I'm just so happy that I just get paid to put a microcontract. phone in my face and share my opinion. The cost of representation, it's kind of like this idea like, wait, when your dreams start coming true, when you start getting your Emmys and Golden Globes and stuff like that, people are going to say, you changed up. Yeah. She's different.

And then at the same time, like, you see somebody Latin, you're just like, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. But at the same time, don't forget where you come from. It's this whole thing about, we want you to be successful, but not too successful. We want you to be wealthy and rich and support your communities. But why do you have so much money? I know that you work so hard, let him rest. But what are you spending your money on?

It's kind of a, if you make it so much about community, nothing is your own. And he is the one touring and he is the one staying up late and he is the one working and he's the one making music. And it's his words or whatever. So he should be able to celebrate his wins. But we are like a joy police society. Yes. So sometimes I can't understand when he's like, fuck y'all. Yeah.

I can't blame. Brother, I can't. Can't blame you. Okay. So my final question for you before we hop into a little game is if the bad bunny fandom is, is a cult? Is it a healthy identity-building cult? Or is it a fragile one that could crack the second he stops being who people need him to be? I believe it is a society where there are people that are just like, do you, do you, we're so proud of you. And then there are all the people that are so

scared of like being forgotten and depend on him too much, where they start to depend on him more than they do their own people in their surroundings and their vicinity and their political figures where sometimes I have to remind people like he does have influence and he does use it, but he is not your mayor. He is not your governor. He cannot form a coup. Exactly. He can represent so much, but it's up to us to take care of us.

It's up to you to go across the street and ask your neighbor if she's okay if you haven't seen her in a couple days. It's not up to people like Bad Bunny. He can inspire you to do so, though. He can inspire you to go to a soup kitchen. He can inspire you to give back to your community and volunteer in other ways and show faces and other ways, share, donate, other fundraising opportunities. But you asking Bad Bunny to do more does not replace actually showing up for you communities.

So that's kind of like where that line gets blurred. And I think a lot of people know that, but I think a lot of people can start to get maybe a little lazy and depend on him to do all the work when he needs us to. I think Cardi B said it best. Watch your own damn kids. What? Like, I'm sorry. I grew up with Janet Jackson and Madonna and Britney Spears and Christina Aguil are writhing on the floor.

They didn't raise me. They didn't raise me. No. Tanya took care of me. I was the one sneaking and watching BET uncut, okay? Tip drill. It's... Okay, so we are going to play a quick little game.

We play it a lot here on Sounds Like a Colt, and it is called Colty versus Cringe. Okay. So I'm going to just throw out some stuff, and you tell me if you think this thing is culty versus cringe. So first thing, first. Calling him Benito like you know him instead of his stage name, Bad Bunny. I think it's cute. That's not an option. That's not an option. It's Colty. It's Colty. It's Colty.

Flying to another country because that's the only place you can get tour tickets. Colty. Why do you think that's Colty? Because I did it. It can't be cringe. Okay, beautiful. Feeling betrayed when he dates someone that you do not approve of. I think it's cringe, but I feel like we're so spoiled as a fandom and cult that that's what we're complaining about when people have had it much, much worse. Hello. You stand for a day. Try being a Kanye stand. Try being a Nikki Minaj stand.

Like, it's hard out here for a pimp. We are spoiled rotten. Defending him online, like you're a part of his PR team. Are you in these people's comments, Tephy? No, not in that way, no. Okay, okay. Because you don't know if somebody's undermedicated or medicated, if they're not medicated, if they should be medicated.

It's just like, I'm going to let you figure it out. What I do is I just block them. So maybe that's one with me. Okay. No, that's real. That's real. You need to protect your peace. That's real.

Treating his fashion choices like political statements. Cringe. Let the man wear a board short. Whatever. Please. This one is just so. oddly specific crying at a bad bunny concert. Colty and cute.

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. But to be fair, I can't watch like a fucking Disney commercial with a little girl on her dad's arms without sobbing. That's just me. No, I'm a crier too.

I understand. I took eight years of Spanish. Oh, there you go. So you know what he's saying? No, I don't. All I know is, Ola Comalistas. Period. But the feeling I get being surrounded.

by people who resonate. It is, oh my God, I can't describe that feeling. And so I cry because I'm having this feeling through osmosis. Because we're good people. Exactly. And then my final one is believing that Bad Bunny represents something much bigger than just music. It's not culty. It's not cringe.

It's correct. Ooh, she ate that one little thing. She ate that one. Okay. I want to get into our verdict. Okay. That sounds like a cult, we always have a verdict after doing our cult's analysis. And these are the three categories.

Live your life. Watch your back. Or a get the fuck out. In your expert opinion, what do you think the cult of bad bunny falls into? I just think they're just too much of Latin moms to be like, it's watch your back. But we have your back. It's watch your back, but we have your back. It's kind of like Charlie's Angels when they're like back to back and they're like,

mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. But also they're like, did you shower three times today? Did you use like a rag? Did you brush your teeth three times? A rag! It's so, yes. Did you do 100 years? It's like, live your life, live your life the way that we want you to.

And watch your back, we have your back. Do you have our back? But I don't think it'll ever be get the fuck out ever, ever. No, it will never. It will never teeter there. Okay. All right, that's beautiful. Well, I just want to say thank you so much for joining us.

If our Coltys want to follow you and catch up with you, what are your platforms? Can you plug where you are online in this ether? At Hello Teffi. I have a podcast called Teffi Talks with Box. And I have an advice column with The Cut magazine. So you can find me there. I'll be hanging out there on that side of the internet. Oh, I love that.

I love that. Well, Colties, thanks. so much for listening. Join us for a new episode next week. And in the meantime, stay culty, but not too cult. Sounds like a cult was created by Amanda Montel and edited by Jordan Moore of the Podcaven. This episode was hosted and produced by Chelsea Charles. Our managing producer is Katie Epperson. Our theme music is by Casey Cole. If you enjoyed the show, we'd really appreciate it. If you could leave it five stars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it really helps the show a lot. And if you like this podcast, feel free to check out my book, Cultish, the Language of Fanaticism, which inspired

the show. You might also enjoy my other books, The Age of Magical Oversinking, notes on modern irrationality, and word slut, a feminist guide to taking back the English language. Thanks as well to our network studio 71. And be sure to follow the Sounds Like a Cult cult on Instagram for all the discourse at Sounds Like a Cult pod or support us on Patreon to listen to the show ad-free at patreon.com slash sounds like a cult.