[Dodgers stadium. Photo credit to Pexels]

Colombian-Dominican-American singer Nezza performed the U.S. national anthem in Spanish at the Dodger Stadium on June 14, despite what she described as last-minute objections from team staff.

The artist, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, sang “El Pendón Estrellado,” the official Spanish-language version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Los Angeles Dodgers game against the San Francisco Giants.

“I didn’t really see an issue with it, and I wanted people to know that I’m with them and I’m standing by them,” Hernández said in a CNN interview, explaining her decision to perform the anthem in Spanish.

“El Pendón Estrellado” was written by Peruvian-American composer Clotilide Arias and was commissioned in 1945 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to gain allies from Latin America.

According to Nezza, she and her team contacted the Dodgers team via email two weeks before the game to request permission to perform the national anthem in both English and Spanish.

The Dodgers responded with a PDF file detailing the song guidelines but did not directly address Nezza’s request.

The Dodgers team only informed her that she had 90 seconds to perform, which led her to consider combining both languages to create a “Spanglish” version of the anthem.

Nezza, whose parents are immigrants who gained U.S. citizenship when she was younger, said her decision to sing the anthem in Spanish was rooted in her deep feelings about what she perceived as unfair actions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“I think I was singing from a place of heartbreak,” Nezza said. 

“I just couldn’t believe that we’re in this reality that I couldn’t even give 90 seconds to the Latino community,” she added.

Nezza learned from her best friend that she would be performing on “No Kings Day,” a day when protests and demonstrations were being held against President Donald Trump and his policies.

This news, along with her desire to stand with immigrant communities, led Nezza to stay up all night memorizing “El Pendón Estrellado” to ensure her performance was flawless.

In a TikTok video showcasing moments before and during her performance, Nezza revealed that a Dodgers employee had informed her that the anthem should be sung in English. 

However, she chose to move forward with her original plan to sing it in Spanish. “I just felt like I needed to do it,” she said in another TikTok video.

Nezza’s performance was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception from many fans in the stadium.

Despite the Dodgers stating there would be “no consequences or hard feelings” about Nezza’s performance, she reported feeling unwelcome.

After her performance, Nezza shared that her manager received a call from a Dodgers employee who said that she was not welcome at Dodger Stadium again.

The singer also revealed that she received death threats but later stated, “All of the love outweighed all of the negativity that came along with it.”