Pop singer and social media personality Nezza sparked national conversation — and controversy — on Saturday after singing the U.S. national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium, defying a direct request from the Dodgers organization to perform it in English.
Ahead of the Dodgers’ 11-5 win over the San Francisco Giants, Nezza (full name Vanessa Hernández) took the field to sing the anthem during the team’s pregame festivities. In a now-viral TikTok, Nezza shows a Dodgers staffer informing her just moments before her performance that “we are going to do the song in English today.”
The video then cuts to Nezza on the field singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish. “So I did it anyway,” she captioned the footage.
Nezza’s decision, while met with mostly positive or neutral reactions inside the stadium, was far from apolitical. In a follow-up TikTok, the 30-year-old performer said the moment was deeply personal — referencing the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of ‘no,’ especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening,” Nezza said tearfully. “But I just felt like I needed to do it para mi gente (for my people).”
She also noted that the Spanish-language version of the anthem she performed was commissioned by the U.S. State Department in 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt to strengthen ties with Latin American allies — a historical footnote she hoped would add legitimacy to her choice.
The Dodgers have not publicly reprimanded Nezza. In fact, a team spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that there were no disciplinary consequences and that she would be “welcomed back in the future.”
“I’m proud of myself for doing that today,” she said. “Because my parents are immigrants. They’ve been citizens my whole life. But I’ll never stop fighting for people who just want a chance to be heard.”
Still, the moment has triggered a national debate as public sentiment on immigration has dramatically shifted. A recent Pew Research poll shows, for the first time in decades, that a majority of Americans now support the deportation of all illegal immigrants — a shift that is only being fanned by the violent riots that erupted in parts of L.A. following ICE’s increased enforcement efforts.
While Nezza’s supporters hail the performance as a bold expression of identity, others have criticized it as a tone-deaf stunt that could easily backfire in today’s political climate.
The Los Angeles Times reported only scattered boos during the performance, but online reactions were far more polarized, with hashtags like #RespectTheAnthem and #DeportThemAll trending shortly after the game.
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Ignorance knows no bliss.
Well I hope that singer only sings for mexican nationals in Mexico for her future. I would not bother going if she is the entertainer. We are not mexico and we are not all spanish language speakers, readers, writers. I would not spend a dime to watch her and she really needs to learn that this is the USA not Mexico. Ship her back with her people!!! She will do better there anyway especially from no on.
She should not be paid for her performance, nor should she ever be asked again to perform for an American Sports Team. Disgraceful!
She should be FINED for breach of contract.
Why don’t the peoplel in charge just shut off the microphone when someone arbirarily and unilaterally decides to change what they agreed to do? Giving liars a forum to dispense their propagnda is foolish.
Some citizens of the USA have no appreciation of the USA.
She was hired to sign the US National Anthem. She BREACHED that contract. The Spanish translation IS NOT the US National Anthem.
THIS IS AMERICA, WE SPEAK ENGLISH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you love Mexico so much what the hell are you doing in the USA?