What Bad Bunny's Exes Have Said About Him

A proud Puerto Rican, Bad Bunny didn't establish a home base in Los Angeles until 2023, having earned worldwide success that was unprecedented for a Latin American musical artist singing almost exclusively in Spanish. His upcoming Super Bowl halftime show proves he is now ubiquitous, despite his unwillingness to conform to the mainstream musical industry. And Bad Bunny, the stage name of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has embraced his stardom, except for one facet: his personal relationships.

He has had three girlfriends that we know of — two long-term relationships with fellow Puerto Ricans and an on-again, off-again fling with Kendall Jenner. But Bad Bunny isn't interested in sharing much more than that — or even that much, to be honest. "I know something is going to come out. I know [people are] going to say something. People know everything about me, so what's left for me to protect? My private life, my personal life," he told Rolling Stone in June 2023.

His ex-girlfriends tend to follow a similar approach. All three of them have refrained from discussing their romances with Bad Bunny. However, they have shared tidbits that give us a decent insight into the performer's love life. He didn't change his tune after acquiring superstar status. On the contrary, he has doubled down on it. Bad Bunny has undergone a massive transformation, and the trajectory of his relationships, and what his exes have shared about him, help illustrate a bit of his story.

Before Bad Bunny was a megastar, he was in a long-term relationship with his college sweetheart, Carliz De La Cruz. Now a lawyer, De La Cruz, whom Bad Bunny started dating in 2011, supported her boyfriend's artistic aspirations. In fact, the "Bad Bunny, baby" we hear in two of his hit songs, "Pa Ti" and "Dos Mil 16," is hers. And this was a problem. That's because De La Cruz accused her now-famous ex of using it without her permission.

In 2023, De La Cruz filed a lawsuit against Bad Bunny asking for $40 million in damages, arguing that his use of her voice had brought her unwanted attention. "This has caused, and currently causes, that De La Cruz feels worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed and anxious," the lawsuit read (via The Guardian). De La Cruz also accused Bad Bunny and his manager of using the recording of her voice knowing she was not okay with it.

According to the suit, Bad Bunny, whose relationship with De La Cruz ended in 2017, offered to buy the rights to the voice recording for $2,000. She declined the offer and later declined another offer from Rimas Music, but they used her voice recording anyway. Bad Bunny hasn't commented on the legal battle with his ex.

In the early days of his stardom, Bad Bunny was also in the early stages of his relationship with jewelry designer Gabriela Berlingeri. He met his fellow Puerto Rican while dining at a restaurant with his family in 2017, just months after his first single, "Soy Peor," put him on the map. They were in a relationship for five years, having even quarantined together during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though Berlingeri was in a relationship with Bad Bunny when he skyrocketed to fame, she kept a low profile throughout their romance. However, she was always busy behind the scenes, collaborating with him on music and being his support system. She even photographed Bad Bunny for his June 2020 Rolling Stone profile, marking the first time the magazine's cover pic was taken with an iPhone. With strict protective measures in place, she became the magazine's window into the musician's life during the pandemic.

In rare comments to explain her vision, Berlingeri revealed that she was in love with Bad Bunny's facial features. "I wanted to highlight all my favorite things about him," she told Rolling Stone in an accompanying piece. "I want people to notice his lips. His skin. His eyes. I find him so beautiful." The couple went on to quietly split around 2022, though things between them seem to have remained amicable. In a July 2022 Instagram video, Bad Bunny gushed about their friendship while noting his desire to keep his life private. "We are best friends," he said.

Bad Bunny's most high-profile relationship seemingly started in early 2023, when he was spotted with Kendall Jenner at a club. Shortly after, sources confirmed that they had been hanging out after being introduced by mutual friends. "She likes him and is having fun," an insider told People that February. "He is different from guys that she dated in the past. He is very charming." Jenner and Bad Bunny weren't as willing to share their romance as the insiders were.

The two were often spotted together and even attended public events, like the NBA game featured above. But they showed reluctance to discuss their relationship in interviews. When The Wall Street Journal asked Jenner about Bad Bunny in a June 2023 piece, she was quick to nip it in the bud. "No comment," she said. That was all she had to say about how now-ex, emphasizing that her personal life was off-limits. "I'll go out of my way to do things as privately as possible because I just think that that's the healthier way of dealing with relationships anyway," she said.

It seems Bad Bunny was on board with Jenner's approach to their romance. "I'm not really interested in clarifying anything because I have no commitment to clarify anything to anyone," he said in a September 2023 Vanity Fair interview. Whatever the nature of their relationship, it was kept between them. Time went on, Bad Bunny and Jenner went their separate ways, and their question-dodging remains the only comments they've made about it.