Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old detained by ICE, wasn’t in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show

More than 135 million people watched Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, and because of false social media posts, some went to bed believing the performance featured Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy detained by ICE in Minneapolis. 

During Bad Bunny’s Feb. 8 set at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the Puerto Rican singer stopped to hand a child what appeared to be a replica of his Album of the Year Grammy award. As he knelt down, Bad Bunny, whose legal name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, rubbed the boy's head and said, "Cree siempre en ti," which means "always believe in yourself."

Journalists and X accounts with blue checkmarks shared that the boy was Conejo Ramos. 

"One of the most meaningful moments of the Super Bowl halftime show happened quietly," journalist Mariana Atencio posted Feb. 8 on X from her verified account. "Bad Bunny brought Liam Conejo Ramos onto the stage — the Ecuadorian boy who was forcefully detained by ICE in Minnesota — and handed him his Grammy."

A Facebook post read, "This kid that Bad Bunny handed the Grammy to is allegedly Liam Conejo Ramos — the boy who had been deported with his father by ICE in Minneapolis." 

The child featured in the first-ever Spanish-language halftime show was not Conejo Ramos — it was 5-year-old child actor Lincoln Fox, whose Instagram account shared a post about it shortly after the show ended: "I’ll remember this day forever! @badbunnypr — it was my truest honor."

In a Feb. 9 followup post, Fox’s Instagram account elaborated about his role and addressed the Conejo Ramos rumors.

"An emotional, unforgettable day being cast as the young Benito — a symbolic moment where the future hands the past a Grammy," the post said in part. "Sending love to Liam Ramos. We all deserve peace and love in America, a country built by and home to so many hard-working immigrants."

A law firm representing the Conejo Ramos family told PolitiFact the child onstage was not Liam. PolitiFact did not immediately hear back from representatives for Bad Bunny. A Bad Bunny publicist confirmed to NPR that the boy on stage was not Liam Conejo Ramos.

Federal immigration agents detained Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo, on Jan. 20 as they returned home from the boy’s preschool. They were sent to a Texas detention center before a judge ordered their release Feb. 1. 

The family is from Ecuador and is in the process of claiming asylum as the Trump administration has sought to end their asylum claims and deport them.

We rate claims that Conejo Ramos was the boy in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show False.