Bad Bunny has turned the Creative Arts Emmys into another big night for his Super Bowl halftime show.
The Puerto Rican artist won seven awards in Los Angeles for “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” ahead of the main Emmy ceremony on 14 September at the Peacock Theater.
The show had already set a record in July when it picked up nine nominations, the highest total for a music production in this format since the awards were created. That beat the record held by Lady Gaga since 2017.
The Television Academy awarded the show prizes including Best Music Direction for Brazilian Miguel Gandelman and Best Choreography for Variety Programming for choreographers Charm La’Donna and Karina Ortiz.
It also won for technical direction, lighting design, sound mixing and directing for a special programme.
Bad Bunny was also tied to another Emmy winner. The episode of “Saturday Night Live” he hosted at the end of 2025 won Best Make-up in the variety, non-fiction or reality category.
The Super Bowl production used the halftime stage to push the idea of America as a single continent, rather than a term used only for the United States. The show ended with a commemorative ball carrying the slogan “Together we’re America”, alongside a parade of flags and the names of countries from Canada to Chile.
This year’s Emmy nominations were announced by Puerto Rico-born actress Liza Colón-Zayas, known for “The Bear”, alongside comedian Jeff Hiller.
Bad Bunny’s show was the most awarded programme on the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys. “The Traitors” won six awards and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” won five.
Stephen Colbert’s programme, which ended in May after 11 years, won Best Picture Editing for Variety Programming for an episode featuring Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. It also won Best Lighting Design for a Series for another episode with Bruce Springsteen as guest.
“The Muppet Show” on Disney+ won four awards, including Best Pre-Recorded Variety Special. It beat “Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour, The Final Show” in that category.
Sabrina Carpenter, an executive producer and performer on the Muppets special, won her first Primetime Emmy.
Other winners included “Mr. Scorsese” for Best Documentary or Non-Fiction Series and “Billy Joel, And So It Goes” on HBO Max for Best Sound Mixing for a Non-Fiction Programme.
The segment “Blink Again” from Netflix’s “Sean Combs, The Reckoning” won Best Picture Editing for a Non-Fiction Programme.
Gandelman became the third person to win Best Music Direction for a Super Bowl halftime performance, after Adam Blackstone in 2022 and Kendrick Lamar with Tony Russell last year.
Tyler Strickland won Best Music Composition for a documentary, non-fiction or reality programme for “John Candy, I Like Me”. It was his first Primetime Emmy.
Director Hamish Hamilton won Best Direction for a Variety Special for Bad Bunny’s show. It was his third win in four years after victories in 2023 for Rihanna’s halftime show, co-directed with Jay-Z, and in 2024 for the Oscars ceremony.
Mariska Hargitay won two awards as producer and director of “My Mom Jayne, A Film by Mariska Hargitay”, a documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield.
Another 53 categories will be presented on Sunday at the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys. Only 19 categories will be included in the televised broadcast of the main gala on 14 September.
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