Nezza Sang National Anthem In Spanish at L.A. Dodgers Game After Being Told Not To

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

As “No Kings Day” protesters were taking to the streets in Los Angeles (and many, many, many cities around the country) on Saturday, following days of anti-ICE demonstrations in downtown L.A., singer Vanessa Hernández, who goes by the stage name Nezza, was showing solidarity a few neighborhoods over: at Dodger Stadium, where she performed a Spanish-language rendition of the national anthem.

As Nezza recounted in a emotional selfie video posted to TikTok later that day, a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers allegedly told her not to sing “El Pendón Estrellado,” the official Spanish national anthem commissioned in 1945 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The club said its standard practice was to have performers sing in English.

“We are going to do the song in English today, I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed,” someone who seemed to be an unidentified Dodgers employee says in a video that Nezza, wearing a República Dominicana T-shirt featuring the island’s flag, posted to TikTok. “I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no, especially because we’re in L.A.,” Nezza said in another TikTok.

Nezza, who is Colombian Dominican American and grew up in the Bay Area, sang the Spanish anthem anyway. Later, she characterized the decision as a personal protest against ICE’s brutal anti-immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles.

Before the game and Nezza’s performance, Dodgers player Kiké Hernández posted on Instagram: “I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own. I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”

“I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente,” Nezza said of her decision through tears.

A Dodgers team official told the Los Angeles Times that Nezza would not face any punishment after the unexpected performance, and there were no plans to ban her from Dodger Stadium in the future.