Pitbull has welcomed the use of an instrumental version of his song “Give Me Everything” during a sex scene in the latest episode of Netflix’s hit period drama Bridgerton.
The popular show stars Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington, a young woman traversing the marriage market in Regency London while also navigating her feelings for her friend, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).
Since its first season in 2020, Bridgerton has regularly featured string versions of pop songs by Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Ariana Grande for scenes set in ballrooms, grand estates, and, in this case, carriages.
*Spoiler warning*
In a closing scene in episode four, season three, Colin has finally admitted his feelings to Penelope after interupting her dance with another suitor. After chasing down her carriage, he and Penelope engage in some steamy behaviour soundtracked by Pitbull’s 2011 song.
“This again shows the world how music is the international language that transcends over boundaries more so how a hit song can remain timeless,” Pitbull, real name Armando Christian Pérez, wrote on Instagram in response to the episode.
Sharing a clip of the scene in question, the 43-year-old added: “Thank you @bridgertonnetflix and @netflix for the opportunity, Dale!” He also tagged his original collaborators on the track, Ne-Yo and Afrojack.
Pitbull rose to fame as a pop artist in the 2010s after an earlier career in reggaeton and Latin hip-hop, with hits including 2009’s “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” and “Hotel Room Service”.
He has collaborated with a number of other stars over the years, such as Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Enrique Iglesias, and Akon.
In the comments section of his post, the official Bridgerton account remarked in the style of the show’s narrator, Lady Whistledown: “This author would most certainly agree with Lord Worldwide... Music speaks when words cannot.”
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Coughlan and Newton said the show’s writers and fans made their job particularly special.
“I always say that scene for me has everything that makes Bridgerton magic,” Coughlan, 37, said. “Because it has the romance, suspense, drama, the miscommunication and then the sexiness, and then the beautiful moments of humour.”
Newton added: “I think the fans being along for the ride the whole time really makes it special, like a shared experience. The experience that [Nicole and I] shared together, but also they’ve experienced it.”
In a two-star review of the new season, the second half of which will be released on Netflix in June, The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton called Coughlan “a superb screen presence”, but was scathing about the writing, which he branded “particularly flimsy”.
“That all results in a show that established fans will slurp down, without ever really acknowledging the subtle differences in taste,” he wrote.
“Bridgerton seems to think that likeability involves the meticulous excision of all edge. For a show that marketed itself as Jane Austen with more bite, this third instalment could learn much from its forebears about how to really sink your teeth in.”
