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Yeah, but Bad Bunny was also the halftime performer and had sets and more time. I do think there would've been more "statements" if Green Day had a proper time slot and was the halftime performance.

I think sometimes we’re so deep in the weeds of fandom — and AI has been out and widely acclaimed for so long — that we forget these songs were fairly controversial when they debuted. My parents wouldn’t buy me the album at first (I was 13). I went to a conservative Catholic school and I remember some people saying they were “anti-American British punk.” So it is kind of funny to hear that these songs aren’t a political performance now.

Nah. His mic was muted twice for a split second during the performance, but he didn’t have time to say anything in that split second. They did censor the “Mindfuck America” I loved his performance even though I’m not a big fan of his music, but how was the statement more real?

At least Bad Bunny's performance was amazing and made a real statement. More punk than Green Day's

It was a good time, whether Billie said something or not. I heard that he did in fact say some things but it was edited out, is that true?

This. Besides the fact that they actually wanted to play it, playing on Superbowl gave them a tremendous amount of exposure. Millions of people heard the lyrics. Maybe it resonated with a lot of them, who will dig deeper on the band and AI album and see where the band stands (and I agree with @solongfromthestars that now would be a perfect time for them to use their social media accounts as a platform). Mostly all the reviews I've read mention what Billie said on that FanDuel gig and that he usually sings "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda". This as well. It was the time to let a latino talk because latinos are one of the most targeted group in USA right now. Maybe they took the role of conscious white dudes and stepped aside. Billie was also wearing a necklace of the Our Lady of Guadalupe which is the patroness of Latin America. That said, I'm a bit disappointed as well, but I get it.

The video would be at 5 million if they had decided to make a statement. Still disappointed by the fact that they said nothing. Performance was amazing. But it wasn't punk rock

What a crazy concept 😆🤯 But if you put it that way, what’s more important? 1) To get the message of American Idiot and everything they stand for for a broader audience, even if it’s not a complete “fuck you” message they usually come up with. or 2) Refuse to participate because they have to censor some of their stuff, therefore not get the message across broader audience at all. I know they are still super popular and super relevant especially in the United States, and that they still can sell out standiums around the world, but they really aren’t that relevant in the grand scheme of things. We just think they are because we are in this Green Day fan bubble. But ordinary people do not care about them at all. Today was the first time in I heard my work colleagues talking about Green Day and the message they sent, and how cool it was, and that their sole pressence pissed Trump off. And even with this, the conversation we had at work was mostly focus on Bad Bunny. I understand your disappointment. I’m disappointed as well. I just don’t agree with this way of looking at things, and I think it’s much more nuanced.

Right but in that case don't sign it imo. It shouldn't go to the point of not even being able to play a popular radio hit in full

I've been thinking about this a lot more, and I truly believe one of the reasons they played it safe was to not rock the boat & not interfere with Bad Bunny's performance and what meaning he was trying to get across. Bad Bunny's performance was all focused around unity & love and GD stirring the pot beforehand definitely would have taken away from that. I'm also confident it was to help protect Bad Bunny as it was fairly obvious he had a bulletproof vest on underneath his outfit. So, I take back what I said earlier and I totally understand why they played it safe now. Happy for them that they got to open what was probably a dream for them.

I think it was a really huge amount of money tho. The NFL is known for crazy clauses in their contracts that highly constrict artists, and while Green Day are filthy rich, the NFL is just on entire different level, their net worth is over 7 billions, only a billionaire could realistically fight the NFL in a court case and win. Probably the clause for swear words was something they could afford, while the clause for political commentary was something they simply couldn’t.

I think people are losing sight of the fact that Green Day GREEN DAY played an opening show at the Super Bowl! That’s huge. The video has over 1.5 m views already. Must have felt amazing to them.

I was on YT now to have a look at the performance and after the reddit shitstorm I expected the worst in the comment section. But on the contrary. Most of the comments are full of praise and actually see the choice of the songs as an act of protest. That’s surprising! And I like it. And: quite a few people seem to have rediscovered them. One goal achieved.

There is an odd angle to this of fans putting all this responsibility on Green Day to do a certain thing. Like others were saying, maybe this was a dream moment for them and they wanted to embrace it and make it a positive memory.

Yeah, I assume they wanted to do it because opening the Super Bowl in the Bay Area was meaningful to them, like it was meaningful to play the Oakland Coliseum.

Maybe it really was to tick a career box but in a quite positive way. It must be exhilarating to perform before such a big audience and get all the attention. And near their hometown too. Maybe they just enjoyed it…?

@solongfromthestars I actually agree with what you said, but then I’m left wondering- why bother? If making a statement ultimately wouldn’t do anything to make a difference and not saying anything only disappoints people; you’re in a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. And the only solution to that is not to play in the first place. It’s not like they need the money. Just to tick a career box? The whole thing just feels like a nothingburger, which sucks for a band that’s supposed to mean something.

It's not even a question of potential repercussions in my opinion. What good would it have done if they had made a statement? All it would've done is generate press, upset MAGA people, attract a few new fans, and allow people who already like Green Day to pat themselves on the back. Not saying that's what the disappointed people wanted (they're overly optimistic about Green Day's influence, which isn't a bad thing because optimism takes strength in the current climate) but it's all it would've achieved. No-one would have changed their mind. It wouldn't have made anyone's lives better. We wouldn't even be having more discussions about anything that needs to be talked about - we'd just be talking about what Green Day said. That probably would've been about Trump or ICE, who are already getting the attention they deserve. There also would've been people accusing Green Day of being performative and I'd understand that too. I'd like to see Green Day using social media as well as their own shows to raise awareness of issues that aren't being talked about. That would be a lot more impactful than singing 'MAGA agenda' yet again.

Other people's opinions on something aren't your opinions. If you have expectations on punk like this you should understand that. Most of the people saying these things are people who didn't catch the cues. They were protesting, despite how subtle it was. The problem is that now because they're so popular and have a lot of money, many people will expect them to always, with no exceptions, be able to be direct in one way or another. And it's hard to accept that isn't always true. There is a reason why punk is a thing. Suppression. Green day was suppressed at that whole performance and that alone was a protest. Them playing Holiday and American Idiot feels like a sellout only because they're hits. We are lucky they even got to the play those songs, let alone as much as they did.

Well all the reviews I can see are very positive, they blew the roof off albeit briefly

They weren't forced to do anything, they could always have not played at all. Mixed feelings on this one. Are they hypocrites for playing the show and not protesting, or is it unfair to expect them to protest at such an event? Either way it leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and I kinda wish they just hadn't done it at all.

....Lady Cobra and Lady Gaga join him.

It's hard to say it worked as a protest when all of the press reactions and a large number of fan reactions are surprise at how they didn't do anything to protest. Not simply playing a hit song that's been played on the radio for 20 years in full is a crazy level of censorship to agree to

This needs to go here!

I'm pretty sure they signed it. They were forced to. ICE agents were present there too; it was stated multiple times. The reason why they removed the most political parts is because they're the most political parts. They were not allowed to say anything "overly" political. You should at least understand there's other way's they'd tried to speak out about the issue. It was extremely subtle, but it was there. And the fact that they were heavily censored already proved a point