Bad Bunny and his Super Bowl halftime show had already caused a lot of talk even before it took place, due to the implications of a show like the Puerto Rican’s in a United States like Donald Trump’s. On February 8, 128 million people (in the United States alone) watched the performance live, analyzing every detail to praise or criticize. And days later it is still providing content. In general, everyone’s expectations were met. For those in the Republican president’s camp it was an affront to American values, while for many Americans it was a powerful message of diversity and inclusion. This is what the atmosphere of Bad Bunny’s La Casita reflected, where Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and Karol G were seen dancing. What many did not understand was the presence of Alix Earle, a 25-year-old influencer from New Jersey who, a priori, has nothing in common with the artist. «You have never used your platform or your voice for the messages that Bad Bunny transmits. This is incredible and undeserved,» criticized a user in a video that Earle shared on his TikTok profile. —where he has 8.3 million followers—to summarize his Super Bowl experience. “So you’re no longer a MAGA?”, “Example of loving Latin culture but not Latinos,” added others who also found her presence hypocritical. Earle limited himself to responding to the first, with his heart included: “Yes, I have used them and being invited to do this was an incredible and very special experience.” The question is: why did they invite her?
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Bad Bunny’s connection to Alix Earle is David Grutman, a powerful Miami nightlife entrepreneur who danced alongside the influencer at La Casita during the Super Bowl show. Grutman has close business and friendship relationships with celebrities such as Pharrell Williams, with whom he owns two restaurants and a hotel; or David Beckham, who frequently uses his most exclusive venues for the events of his soccer team, Inter Miami. Bad Bunny has not missed the opportunity to ally with the millionaire either: both are co-owners of Gekkō, a luxurious Japanese-inspired steakhouse opened in 2022 in the financial center of the city of Florida. In 2023, Grutman decided to diversify his businesses beyond hospitality and founded the production company DGN Studios in collaboration with Evan Rosenfeld. This is where the thread begins to pull towards Earle. The content creator, daughter of a New Jersey construction magnate, began making her first steps on TikTok in 2020. «When I started, I had no idea. I was trying to be perfect. I thought that was the way to do it,» she said in 2023 on the radio show The Howard Stern Show. However, the influencer found the key to popularity in 2022 thanks to openly sharing her daily struggle with severe cystic acne. «I decided to talk about it, and that decision changed everything. It was the moment when I stopped posting and started connecting, building a community that valued honesty and support,» he explained at the end of January 2025 in an interview with Number Netherlands. The Earle without makeup or filters was much more convincing than the divine Earle and earned a loyal community of followers that continues to grow. The brands she promotes sell out quickly and the media is already referring to this boom in popularity as the “Alix Earle effect.” “Alix has not only built a solid network of followers who trust her recommendations, but she has also created a community through her Hot Mess podcast, where she talks from her bed about her life, with topics ranging from the fight against acne to breakups with friends,” Vista Magazine described this effect in 2024. Grutman, who has experience in successful businesses, has found his new big bet in Earle. The mogul is working on the next reality show that the influencer — who already has experience in the format after her time on the last season of Dancing with the Stars — is going to star in for Netflix, produced under her DGN Studios label. Grutman has recently signed a global agreement with the platform to develop and produce programs on entertainment, gastronomy, sports and lifestyle, and Earle’s is one of his most relevant television projects to date. Jessica Alba, Alix Earle and David Grutman watching Bad Bunny’s show at the Super Bowl in the front row. Jeenah Moon (REUTERS) “I share a large part of my life on social networks, and people think they know everything about me and my family, but honestly, there is still much more,” Earle said in a statement when he shared the news of the reality show — still without a title or official release date. «We are very happy that the series has found a home on Netflix. At its core, it is about our fun, loving and sometimes chaotic modern family, and how we always support each other at all times,» he explained. Taking her with him to La Casita de Bad Bunny and sharing content together on social networks seems to be part of Grutman’s strategy to warm up for the reality show and begin to make the influencer known globally.
Tom Brady’s new girlfriend?
However, what is causing the most talk about Earle’s presence at the Super Bowl is his supposed flirtation with Tom Brady. The former quarterback and the influencer were seen and recorded in a loving attitude at a private party after the game, dancing, laughing and holding each other’s waists. A source told People this Monday that they are dating, but neither of them have confirmed—or denied—it. Rumors of a possible relationship between them began on January 1, 2026, after they were seen having fun at a New Year’s Eve party at an exclusive nightclub in San Bartolomé. «People are not beautiful because of how they look or talk. They are beautiful because of how they love, care for and treat others,» Brady wrote in her stories the next day. He shared the text over an image of two monks holding hands, but users and the media interpreted it as a reference to the influencer. 
Alix Earle and her dance partner in the finale of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on November 25, 2025. Eric McCandless (Disney via Getty Images) If the romance is true, and not another marketing strategy by the content creator, Brady would join the athletes who make up Earle’s love story. In 2022 she briefly dated baseball player Tyler Wade, and in 2023 she confirmed her relationship with Braxton Berrios, an NFL receiver for the Houston Texans. She herself announced the breakup in December 2025, two weeks before she began being linked to Tom Brady. «Braxton and I are no longer together. We’ve been in a long-distance relationship since June, practically, and we haven’t seen each other very often. It’s been very difficult for me,» she shared crying in a video before her millions of TikTok followers. On February 5, three days before she started dancing in front of half the world at La Casita de Bad Bunny, she said in another publication that she was still “very sad” about the breakup, but also “very fresh and full of emotions.”
