Kid Rock discussed Bad Bunny's performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News on Monday. In doing so, he defended Bad Bunny despite taking issue with the NFL choosing a Spanish-language artist for the event. Instead, he placed the blame on league commissioner Roger Goodell and Jay-Z, who has been handling the Halftime Show since 2019.
“So it goes like, ‘Well, maybe Jay-Z’ll do it,’” he said. “Which, nothing against Jay-Z. I respect him for his hustle and his music, but it seems like there’s a little bit of a DEI hire there going on.” From there, he remarked, “Black guys love Jay-Z,” and suggested the hire was only made to improve Black male viewership in the wake of Colin Kaepernick's exit from the league. “I’m not that ignorant, I know a lot of us love Jay-Z, not just Black guys,” he continued. “But in the league where you have this problem, it seemed like, ‘Oh, we’ll bring him in.’”
Kid Rock served as the headliner for Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show,” which the company put on as a counterprogram to Bunny's Halftime Show. Other performers included Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show
In addition to Kid Rock, President Donald Trump complained about Bad Bunny's performance in a scathing post on his Truth Social website. "It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World," he wrote.
Despite the criticism from conservatives, Bad Bunny's performance was a massive success for the NFL. According to early reports, 135.4 million people tuned in, making it the most popular Super Bowl Halftime Show in history.
