Nezza Speaks Out on Defying Dodgers’ Rules by Singing National Anthem in Spanish: ‘I Think God Entered My Body at That Moment’ (EXCLUSIVE)

In a Q&A, the L.A.-based singer with a penchant for Spanglish lyrics explains what happened behind the scenes at Dodger Stadium and why, even as a 'goodie two shoes,' she felt led to speak to the moment.

When Nezza went against the rules the Los Angeles Dodgers had set out for her and proudly sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” there were some who considered it a downright ungodly moment. But the 30-year-old singer tells Variety that, to her, it truly had to be a God thing that she was booked to sing the national anthem at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, a day when a large number of Americans were on the streets to, at least in part, protest the recent treatment of Latinos in this country.

The L.A.-based performer known offstage as Vanessa Hernandez says that she did the anthem en espanol to inspire, not to provoke, especially after looking up into the stands and feeling bolstered by seeing the faces of the Dodgers’ largely Latino-leaning fan base. “I was like, how am I not gonna do this on today, of all days?” she says. “So I looked around and I was like, I have to. … I truly think God entered my body. I know a lot of people aren’t religious, but I’ve been praying a lot recently, and I really feel like he was there with me in that moment and gave me the courage to do it, like, five seconds before.”

In an interview Tuesday, Nezza went into the full sequence of events leading up to this flashpoint moment, describing how, although she has only sung the anthem at ballparks in English before (including at a game for her hometown team, the A’s, earlier this month), she went through a series of thoughts about how to approach her performance in the month since she was booked. At first, she proposed doing two versions, both the English rendition and a Spanish translation that was commissioned by presidential order back in the 1940s as part of a “good neighbor” policy. Informed that time wouldn’t allow for that, she thought of doing a Spanglish version that would switch back and forth between languages, before finally settling on pure Spanish. But as a video she posted on her TikTok account showed, a Dodgers rep informed her it had to be pure English… and she persisted.

The Dodgers, for their part, have a slightly different version of some of the events. A team spokesperson says, “There were no consequences or hard feelings from the Dodgers regarding her performance. She was not asked to leave. We would be happy to have her back” — although whether that means as a paying ticketholder or repeat anthem performer isn’t clear. She says in the interview that follows that the Dodgers’ unhappy rep told her she should never contact them about performing again. Sources connected to the team have privately expressed mixed feelings — acknowledging that the performance felt moving in the moment, but that rules are rules, especially when it comes to letting the dam of possible reinterpretations burst by allowing something that has apparently never taken park in an MLB ballpark before.

Nezza has enough experience under her belt (as a vlogger, her YouTube and Twitch channels have been popular fo years, on top of her recording pursuits) that she is not shocked by the idea of dealing with negative attention. This may mark the first time that she attracted the kind of attention that leads dozens or hundreds of commenters to argue that she needs to be “deported back to Mexico.” (For the record, she is of Columbian and Dominican descent and was born to U.S. citizens in the Bay area.)

(The following Q&A has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)

How have you been doing since this became a flashpoint of public attention, pro and con?

It’s still so fresh. But at the end of the day, I am OK. I feel very loved. The outpouring of love has just been unbelievable.

There’s been negative attention, of course, but you’ve had some co-signs from a few famous people.

It’s funny because most of the things I’ve seen have een been relayed to me by people, because my notifications are all over the place, so I don’t notice them right away. But I saw Becky G, who is an idol of mine, because she’s also obviously a fellow Latina singer, posted my video and tagged me and wrote a little blurb. And George Lopez yesterday posted my video talk about it and sent me really, really kind words. I saw that Kehlani posted the video today on her stories; she’s a fellow Bay-area girly. Jason Mraz left a really sweet message on my TikTok video, which was crazy; I think I sang “I’m Yours” for one of the first-ever talent shows I did as a kid, so that was really crazy. But aside from the celebrities, there’s just an outpouring of people who were there, people who have seen the video. I didn’t know what to expect, so it’s been beautiful to see the Latin community band together and be so supportive and, yeah, they’re lifting me up right now.

What were you anticipating the reaction would be, going in?

It’s crazy because I didn’t even think about that going in. I wasn’t being like, “Oh, this is gonna make headlines.” I truly just did it from the bottom of my heart, to inspire everyone. Because when I looked up at the stadium, 90% of the people in the stands were Latino. So I was like, how am I not gonna do this today — on today of all days? So I looked around and I was like, I have to. I have to.

No thought of “Man, I’m gonna make a big splash and create headlines”?

No. I just really want to make it known that I have never broken a rule in my entire life. I am a goody-two-shoes. I can’t even cut in line. I truly think God entered my body. I know a lot of people aren’t religious, but I’ve been praying a lot recently, and I really feel like he was there with me in that moment and gave me the courage to do it, like, five seconds before.

When did you first think you wanted to do it in Spanish? Was it tied to what is happening with the unrest?

I think two weeks before, we asked if I could do both [sing separate versions in Spanish and English]. We sent them an email, an I was like, “You know, in light of everything, I’d really like to support my community right now. Could we do both anthems?” Because I heard that there are Canadian teams that, when they play here, they do both the American and the Canadian anthem. So I was like, “OK, let’s do both” (versions of the U.S. anthem], and we asked to do both in the email. In the email, I also included that the (Spanish-language] version I wanted to sing was the official version commissioned by President Roosevelt. So it wasn’t to be disrespectful, because the lyrics are the same; they’re just in a different language.

And all that we were met with in return was an email with a PDF with guidelines of how long I had. They could have sent an email being like, “No, we want you to do it in English.” They kind of avoided the question, and they only met us with, “Hey, you have a 90-second window, because of television, blah, blah.” I was like, “Okay.” So my manager and I were like, “Well, maybe I can just do it in Spanglish. If I only have 90 seconds, let me just mix the lyrics.”

We organized this whole Dodgers thing a month ago, so I’ve known that I was gonna perform there for a month now. And so, yeah, obviously with the uproar and everything that was happening, especially on the day-of, I was like, “I’m gonna do it in full Spanish. What do you think about that?” And (her manager) was like, “Yeah, I support you.” And I walked in there fully thinking it was gonna be OK because they never addressed it in the emails. I went in there with a smile on my face; you should have seen me during my rehearsal. I can’t even watch that video anymore. But I was so happy, and the organ player that I was rehearsing with loved it and was like, “It’s so beautiful.” And then right after I finished (the rehearsal) is the moment that everyone has seen online, of her telling me that we were doing it in English. And it was the most heartbreaking, heart-wrenching thing I think I’ve ever been a part of.

Did you feel rebellious?

It’s not like a parent being like, “No, you can’t have candy.” It truly felt so… I don’t want to say personal. It just hit me harder than anything has in my entire life. And that’s what fueled me at the end of the day — and seeing everybody in the stands… And then she made me do it again in English, and sat there and watched me to make sure that I did it in English.

In the backstage video snippet your posted, we see the smile disappear from your face she tells you that. Did you verbally respond to her?

That video is a five-minute video, actually. I don’t want anyone to think that we went in there with this scheme, like “This is what we’re gonna do and we have this plan and let’s catch her on camera.” The beginning of that video was just my boyfriend recording my rehearsal for BTS, and she just happened to walk into frame and say the things that she did. And, obviously, I disassociate a little bit, as you can see in my eyes. I can’t even process what she’s saying to me. And then the only words that come out of my mouth after that… I call over my manager, and he’s like, “What’s going on?” I’m like, “She’s saying I can’t sing it in Spanish.” And so she gives us some private time to discuss. I just burst into tears; I’m sobbing. My manager’s like, “Anything you want to do, I stand by you. You make the decision.” And that was an hour before everything went down. I was just shaking for that hour. After I wiped my tears, then I think the fire set in.

So when you went up there, do you think they considered that there was a chance you still might do it in Spanish anyway, or do you think they were completely surprised?

I have no idea. My whole demeanor changed. Anyone that’s been following me for a while knows I’m a really bubbly, just always happy person. And from the moment that she said it to me… I basically was avoiding anyone around me after that, because I knew if someone said one word to me, I would bust out crying again, and so I was mute. I think it registered in my face, that I was not happy, so maybe they had some inkling that I was still gonna do it. But by the way, I still was like smiling at her, laughing with her. Because at the end of the day, I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I’m very understanding and I’m forgiving. But I made my decision and I stood by it.

I previously did a story back at the height of tensions over the George Floyd death, when Meg Lindsey did the anthem prior to an NFL game, but took a knee at the very end of it, which was upsetting to many people. Her attitude was she wasn’t disrespecting the anthem — she was just adding to our understanding of it with that additional visual symbol. Is that how you feel about what you did?

Correct. Because you can can be a proud American, but still want better for your country. Both things can be true. And I feel for her — that makes total sense. That’s beautiful. I love that.

Had you ever heard the anthem performed in Spanish before?

Never in my life. I didn’t know that existed, and I don’t think most of the Latin community knows that. I have thousands of messages that have poured in there like, “Thank you for teaching me about this. I had no idea we had an official ‘Star Spangled Banner’ commissioned by the U.S.” I was like, “Yeah, neither did I, prior to two weeks prior.” But I did my research because I didn’t want to go in there translating it in my own words. I feel like that would’ve been disrespectful. But of course I will gladly sing one that was commissioned by our own government.

How did you come across it?

I just Googled “Star-Spangled Banner, Spanish translation,” and it was one of the first things that popped up, going back to 1945. I was like, “Great. I don’t have to make it up.”

When did you become aware of the reaction you were getting?

I fully walked out there thinking I was going to get booed, and I had my in-ears in, so I actually didn’t know the reaction until that very last second when I took those out, and then it was just this roar in my ears. To have this many people reaching out and all the love, it is insane.

And you know there are also a lot of people out there angry to be reading about it at best, and openly racist toward you at worst. People had reason to wonder if you were going to be OK, facing some of that virulence.

Yeah. I’ve been on the internet long enough where I know how to navigate this now. I’m totally okay. My DMs are worse, because obviously in private people say crazy stuff. But they’re not my families, they’re not my demographics. So what does it matter? I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for my community and I’m doing it for the people that were touched. So even if only five people messaged me saying that it was so inspiring for them, it would’ve been worth it. Obviously, this is so much more grand a result.

It would be interesting, now that people know about this official version, if it should start to get some traction and be sung more. At Latino-focused events, anyway; it may still be unlikely that MLB clubs are going to be calling you up to say, “Come, please do that here.”

I hope so. I’ll come do it anywhere.

Maybe it goes without saying, but you didn’t do this because you hate “The Star Spangled Banner” and were looking to mock or undermine it. You’ve sung the English version a lot of times before, including earlier this month at an A’s game. You must have respect for the song.

Correct. Like, why would I have agreed to it in the beginning before even coming to that conclusion that I wanted to add the Spanish? And in that video (of the performance), I’m still screaming, at the top of my lungs, “the land of the free, home of the brave” (in Spanish). I think a lot of the really negative comments don’t know that, hey, that’s an official version, still talking about being a proud American, just in a different language. How is that disrespectful. Especially in a city where there’s so many of us here.

What sort of feedback did you got from the Dodgers afterward, either immediately in the moment or in the further wake of this?

Immediately, before I set foot out of the stadium, as I was walking back out, we received a call and they were like, “Don’t ever email us again. Don’t ever call us again. Your clients are never welcome here ever again.” So it’s really weird to see the statement they put out, because I was confused. I don’t know who’s not communicating over there, or if they don’t know that she said that to us, and they’re now learning that. But yeah, no one’s reached out directly to us yet. Because in the L.A. Times there was like another statement that “Vanessa’s welcome back with open arms.” And I’m like, what? OK. That’s not what she said, though.

Prior to this, you just put out a single, “Classy.”

My life hasn’t stopped behind the scenes as well, so we’ve just been “Go, go, go.” We just dropped “Classy” this month. We’d basically just started out a rollout for the Spanish pop album that is coming out.  We’re just about to have a whole new wave of music, which is so exciting because I’ve been waiting so long to drop this album — and hopefully touring next year, because I miss being on a stage.

What does performing in Spanglish mean to you?

The lyrics are that way because, being a Latin American, I feel like naturally, especially in some of my interviews, I speak in Spanglish, like (some other Latin performers) —. Selena also was a Spanglish girl; Becky G, another Spanglish girl. So I kind of wanted my music to reflect that, because that’s how I speak. I go between both languages when I’m speaking to my parents, too.

How have you been feeling about the protests?

I just think that there’s just no way that anyone can watch what’s happening right now and not feel a certain way. And I had felt like, basically, I’d had it, you know? And that I just needed to do something, and I would’ve regretted it for the rest of my life, had I not done that. That was my moment to stand for my people, protect them and let them know that I’m with them and I’m willing to fight for them. Crazy moment, but it was a beautiful moment.

And you feel like a providential moment, that you just happened to be booked for that platform on a day when the world is thinking about Latinos.

What are the odds? Again, I keep going back to God. It has to be God. I’ve been praying a lot recently, and he put me in that stadium on June 14 for a reason.

You said you’re a rule follower by nature, but no one will mistake you for anything other than a bold person.

I can’t believe it. If 13-year-old me were to watch that video, she would pass out from anxiety.