Nezza says she sang national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium against team's wishes

Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times on Jun 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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LOS ANGELES — Singer and social media personality Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.

And, according to a video the performer later posted to social media, she did so against the wishes of the Dodgers organization.

In a video Nezza, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, posted to TikTok, an unidentified Dodgers employee is heard telling her before Saturday's performance that "we are going to do the song in English today, so I'm not sure if that wasn't relayed."

Then, the video cuts to Nezza — who was wearing a Dominican Republic shirt — singing a Spanish version of the "Star-Spangled Banner" on the field ahead of the Dodgers' win against the San Francisco Giants.

The video's caption: "So I did it anyway."

In a separate video, Nezza, 30, said the version of the song she sang was commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that she wanted to sing it amid the recent unrest in Los Angeles stemming from raids by ICE agents.

"I didn't think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we're in LA and with everything happening," she said. "But today out of all days, I just could not believe when she [the Dodgers employee] walked in and told me 'no.' But I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente."

The Dodgers did not issue a public comment on the situation, but a team official said there were no consequences from the club regarding the performance and that Nezza would be welcome back at the stadium in the future.

In general, the Dodgers have largely been quiet about the raids and resulting protests in the city over the last week.

Manager Dave Roberts has been asked about the situation twice. On Monday, he said that, "I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now."

On Friday, he offered little further comment: "I know that when you're having to bring people in and deport people, all the unrest, it's certainly unsettling for everyone," he said, "But I haven't dug enough and can't speak intelligently on it."

Veteran Kiké Hernández spoke out on Instagram on Saturday, writing that "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."

The Dodgers, however, have not issued any team-level statement, and a club executive told The Times' Dylan Hernández on Friday that they did not plan to make any comment.