Do we like Enrique Iglesias?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A clean harm record and real charity work, held back by a couple of on-stage moments that drew criticism and a record that's quiet on most issues.
Enrique is the youngest son of Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler, and he started out wanting no help from the famous surname. Reporting on his early career says he recorded under the name Martínez to dodge comparisons with his dad. In the mid-1990s he signed with Fonovisa, and his 1995 self-titled album gave him a No. 1 on the Billboard Latino chart with “Si tú te vas”.
He's kept going on pure work ethic. In a 2014 Billboard cover story he said “I got to fight like it's my first record every time.” The same piece reports he repeatedly turned down judging gigs on singing shows, saying he'd rather be in the studio writing songs.
Now the stoushes. In 2018 a video from a Mexican fair showed him with his hand on a backup singer's backside while performing. Some called it unacceptable in the Me Too era, others said it was choreographed. He didn't apologise and posted fan videos instead.
In July 2025 at a festival in Gran Canaria, he kissed Emilia Mernes on the cheek near the end of a duet. She was reported to look startled and pull back, and the clip went viral. Neither singer addressed it directly. He thanked her publicly and she thanked him for the invite. Where you land depends on whether you see showbiz flirting or a guy who doesn't read the room.
On the harm test, there's nothing. We found no comments from him about LGBTQ+ people, trans rights, migrants, vaccines or climate, and no run of collaborators who push harm. Silence isn't a pass with distinction, but it isn't a fail either. His father is facing allegations from two former employees, which Julio denies. The reports I read carry no statement from Enrique on it, and that's his dad's matter, not his.
The good stuff is real. He's backed Save the Children since 2015, and fans he rallied raised more than $353,000. He also arranged $200,000 in Microsoft software for schools in El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. The charity named him a Changemaker for Children in 2019. Nothing recent has surfaced about him, so this is a long-haul read, not a hot take.