Kid Rock shared a message about hate amid the controversy surrounding Turning Point USA’s alternative 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
“Mamba Mentality,” read a graphic shared via X by the singer, 55, on Thursday, February 5, quoting late basketball star Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020.
The quote continued, “Learn to love the hate. Embrace it. Enjoy it. You earned it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone should have one about you. Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.”
Kid Rock (real name Robert James Ritchie) was announced as a headliner for TPUSA’s “All-American Halftime Show” earlier this week alongside Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.
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The alternative halftime show was created in protest of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show after backlash from right-wing conservative individuals, many of whom claimed that Bad Bunny, 31, is “not American.” (The rapper is from Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory. He primarily performs in Spanish.)
TPUSA — which was founded by the late Charlie Kirk and is now helmed by his widow, Erika Kirk — announced their version of the halftime show in October 2025, promising a show that would deliver “values, faith and freedom.”
President Donald Trump was among the critics of Bad Bunny’s halftime show, calling it “absolutely ridiculous.” Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promised that an increased number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be present at Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8.
Just as Bad Bunny’s halftime show caused a divide, so did the alternative option. Many who oppose the All-American Halftime Show have brought up Kid Rock’s 2001 song “Cool, Daddy Cool,” which contains some eyebrow-raising lyrics.
“Will Kid Rock be singing his song ‘Cool, Daddy Cool’ that contains these lyrics: ‘Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage,’ ‘See some say that’s statutory.’ ‘But I say it’s mandatory,’” one social media user wrote via X.
After the lineup for the All-American Halftime Show was announced, Kid Rock shared a statement comparing the opposing shows to “David and Goliath.”
“We plan to play great songs for folks who love America,” he said on Monday, February 2. “We’re approaching this show like David and Goliath. Competing with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible … or is it?”
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Addressing Bad Bunny directly, Kid Rock continued, “He’s said he’s having a dance party, wearing a dress, and singing in Spanish? Cool. We plan to play great songs for folks who love America.”
Bad Bunny, who denounced ICE in his acceptance speech for Best Música Urbana Album at the 2026 Grammys one week before the Super Bowl, addressed non-Spanish speakers during a press conference on Thursday.
“They don’t even have to learn Spanish,” he said during Apple Music’s Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference. “It’s better they learn to dance. There’s no better dance than the one that comes from the heart. That’s the only thing that they need to worry about.”
Bad Bunny added, “I just want people to have fun.”
