The Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show made tons of headlines — both good and bad — as it competed with Bad Bunny’s Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.
Weeks after Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl 2026 halftime show performer, the organization, which was founded by the late Charlie Kirk, revealed their plans for an alternate concert. (The Turning Point USA concert announcement also came weeks after Charlie was shot and killed at age 31 during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University.)
The performance was livestreamed on Sunday, February 8, and featured Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barrett. Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, did not appear on stage as some fans hoped. However, the new Turning Point USA CEO did reveal ahead of the concert that the alternate halftime show would honor her husband.
“It’s powerful because what Charlie always loved and knew is that he wanted to be in the forefront of the culture war,” she told Fox News earlier this month. “He would be fist-pumping at this. He would be so stoked. And what better way to honor him than to just get in the middle of this and be able to offer an alternative to families.”
Erika, 37, added: “For us to be able to provide an alternative that is pro-America, that is just pro-everything, that’s not the opposite of what they’re putting out there. I don’t want to go into details and bash that because there is apparently an audience that wants that, but there’s a larger audience that wants ours.”
Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show Controversy Explained
The All-American halftime show was broadcast via the Turning Point USA YouTube channel where it racked up millions of views. It was later reported that the concert had been pretaped.
Keep scrolling for everything to know about where the concert was filmed:
Was the Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show Live?
A Variety report published on Monday, February 9, claimed that the All-American Halftime show had been pretaped. Turning Point USA has yet to confirm the speculation.
Where Was the Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show Filmed?
The same Variety report alleged that the performance was recorded in Atlanta. The location was not disclosed during the livestream, and further details have yet to be publicly revealed.
How Erika Kirk Says the Alternative Halftime Show Honors Husband Charlie
How Many People Watched the Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show?
The Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff provided estimated viewership numbers via X after the halftime show.
“TPUSA All-American Halftime Show,” Neff wrote on Sunday. “Over 5 million simultaneous on TPUSA YT [YouTube]. Almost 1 million on Charlie Kirk’s YT. 200k on Magno News YT. 220k on TPUSA Rumble. 15k CK Rumble.”
Candace Owens claimed on social media that the numbers were inflated. (Us Weekly reached out to Turning Point USA for comment.)
“The problem with people who have a lot of money they didn’t earn, is that they tend to have no idea how stuff actually works,” she shared via X. “We have an organization that scammed its views by paying platform advertisers, followed by influencers to pretend they broke records.”
As of Tuesday, February 10, the YouTube playback has reached 20 million views. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show playback has reached 53 million views on YouTube.
