After Bad Bunny Accidentally Shades Harry Styles At Coachella, Visual Company Explains How The Snafu Happened

Bad Bunny on Carpool Karaoke and Harry Styles in Late Night Talking video.
(Image credit: CBS/Vevo)

Coachella is always known to bring some eyebrow-raising interactions between its celebrity patrons, and this year has been no different, with exes Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes caught making out, and Leonardo Dicaprio eliciting questions about the nature of his relationship with Bradley Cooper’s ex. And you just know the Kardashians fam got wrapped up in some drama too, with Kendall Jenner’s rumored love interest Bad Bunny appearing to shade her ex Harry Styles in a tweet that appeared on screen during his headlining performance. The Puerto Rican artist has since apologized, and the company responsible for the visuals for his set explained exactly what happened. 

Bad Bunny Appeared To Diss Harry Styles’ Hit ‘As It Was’ 

Bad Bunny was in the headlines ahead of Coachella, both for his WWE appearances and his horseback riding date with Kendall Jenner. During his set on April 14, a tweet appeared on the screen behind him whose text (edited below for capitalization and punctuation) read:  

Goodnight Benito could do ‘As It Was’ but Harry could never do ‘El Apagón.’

Fans saw this as shade to Kendall Jenner’s ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, who she dated off and on from 2013 and 2019 and was seen hanging with following his breakup with Olivia Wilde. Styles also beat out Bad Bunny (and Beyoncé) at this year’s Grammy Awards, taking home the trophy for Album of the Year. Presumably the tweet suggested the rapper could have done the former One Directioner’s “As It Was,” but that Styles couldn’t have recorded Bad Bunny’s hit “El Apagon.”

Visual Content Company Explains Bad Bunny Tweet Snafu

Following the perceived diss, Bad Bunny’s team said (per Rolling Stone) that the artist had not approved the image that was shown during his Coachella performance, and the visual content company, Sturdy.co, said in an Instagram Story (via Billboard) on April 17: 

Our intention is to create light hearted designs that embody Bad Bunny’s personality and amplify the experience he presents as a performer. The request from the artist during the visuals for ‘El Apagón’ performance was to use the image only and not text from the tweet, which we take responsibility for and correct it for [this] Friday’s performance. These visuals are a celebration of Bad Bunny and his dedication to empowering his native island, Puerto Rico.

Apparently Bad Bunny had wanted to use the photo that accompanied the tweet, not the text, during his show, and they promised the situation would be corrected for his April 21 set on the festival’s second weekend. 

Bad Bunny Apologizes To Harry Styles During His Set 

The reggaeton singer followed through on that promise, and during “El Apagón” — when the tweet in question had been shown the previous week — the same image appeared behind Bad Bunny on the screen. However, this time the text read:  

Sorry Harry, it was a mistake from my team. We love you.

I love this public apology and show of humility. Despite whatever sour grapes Bad Bunny might have felt after the Grammy’s, it doesn’t seem like Kendall Jenner would approve of such shade being thrown at her longtime friend Harry Styles. It doesn’t appear Styles has made any public comment about Bad Bunny’s Coachella snafu, but hopefully we can consider this beef as squashed. 

Heidi Venable
Content Producer

Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.