Turning Point USA, founded by late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, has taken issue with the NFL’s choice as this year’s halftime performer.

Headliners unveiled for conservative rival to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show

Turning Point USA, founded by late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, has taken issue with the NFL's choice as this year's halftime performer.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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February 2, 2026 4:21 p.m. ET

Kid Rock performs at the 2024 Republican National Convention. Credit:

Andrew Harnik/Getty

- Kid Rock has been named as the headliner of Turning Point USA's conservative alternative to the Super Bowl LX halftime show.

- The organization co-founded by late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk previously said the event would be designed around "faith, family and freedom" and feature as a potential music genre "Anything in English."

- Bad Bunny's selection as this year's Super Bowl halftime performer sparked conservative backlash, for his choice of Spanish as the dominant language of his music and for his past criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Bad Bunny faces a new contender for attention on Super Bowl Sunday: Kid Rock.

The "Bawitdaba" singer will headline Turning Point USA's "All-American Halftime Show," a conservative alternative to the big game's official halftime show led by the Latin trap sensation.

Turning Point, the organization co-founded by late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in 2012, released a poster depicting the artists comprising its counterprogramming ploy on Monday, with Kid Rock front and center. The 55-year-old firebrand will be receiving backup from country rockers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett.

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Turning Point announced its intention to launch a conservative competitor to the Super Bowl LX halftime show in October, just days after the NFL named Bad Bunny as the evening's entertainer.

The "All-American Halftime Show" has been billed as a celebration of "faith, family and freedom." The initial announcement linked to a survey featuring a question about which genres viewers wanted to see represented, with options including "Pop," "Americana," "Worship," and "Anything in English." Kid Rock, for his part, weighed in on Kendrick Lamar's halftime show last year, calling it "the epitome of DEI" and saying it "wasn't my cup of tea, but I gotta respect it."

Kid Rock says Kendrick Lamar turned 'DEI into an IED' in halftime show

Bad Bunny calls for 'ICE out' in powerful Grammys speech amid Super Bowl controversy: 'We're not animals'

Bad Bunny was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, in 1994. Beginning his music career by uploading unvarnished demos to SoundCloud as a teenager, Bad Bunny was crowned last year by Spotify as the most listened-to musical artist in the world.

His selection as the Super Bowl LX halftime performer follows logically from popular picks in recent years, from Lamar in 2025 to Rihanna in 2023 to Justin Timberlake in 2018. But his pick sparked immediate conservative backlash, with former race car driver Danica Patrick criticizing the fact that Bad Bunny sings primarily in Spanish and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatening to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on game day.**

Donald Trump and Kid Rock at a UFC event in 2023.

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty

Bad Bunny has voiced his own criticisms of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, explaining in September that he decided not to bring his *Debi Tirar Mas Fotos* World Tour to the continental United States out of concern that ICE would conduct raids at his shows.

After winning the Grammy award for Best Música Urbana Album on Sunday, Bad Bunny made an even more forceful plea for compassion amid increasingly brutal ICE actions. "ICE out," he said to thunderous applause. "We're not savage. We're not animals. We're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans."**

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