Turning Point halftime show latest: NFL legend says he’ll be watching Kid Rock instead of Bad Bunny

President Donald Trump will not be in attendance at the Super Bowl this year — and took the opportunity to criticize this year’s performers. .

Trump, who attended last year’s Super Bowl, described the 2026 lineup as “a terrible choice” that “sows hatred.” However, he cited travel concerns as his primary reason for not attending, telling the New York Post, “It’s just too far away.”

The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny has drawn conservative criticism due to his predominantly Spanish-language music and stances on immigration, with one song featuring an imitated Trump voice apologizing to immigrants.

However, the frontman for Green Day, also expected to perform on Sunday, has repeatedly denounced Trump.

Frontman Billie Joel Armstrong has notably altered lyrics in American Idiot to “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda” and leading a chant calling him a “fat bastard.”

Conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA shared a video of its late founder, Charlie Kirk, discussing how the Super Bowl should be a “reflection” of American values.

TPUSA is set to host the All-American Halftime as singer and rapper Bad Bunny takes the Super Bowl halftime stage.

The organization’s new event is in response to conservative outrage over the Puerto Rican singer’s planned performance.

“That’s why we’ve made the All-American Halftime Show,” the conservative organization notes in the post.

Kid Rock, who is headlining Turning Point USA’s halftime event Sunday, has been in the news leading up to the show over previous comments he made about underage girls.

During a 2001 Saturday Night Live performance, the rocker reportedly made problematic comments about child actresses Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were around 14 or 15 at the time, according to Penn Live.

“Why is every guy in America waiting on these chicks to turn 18?” the singer reportedly said on the show. “I mean, you know what I’m saying? If there’s grass on the field, play ball.”

The comments resurfaced ahead of the All-American Halftime Show, which TPUSA described as a “patriotic event proudly celebrating American, freedom and faith.”

The Democrats’ account on X slammed the comments, writing, “The face of the MAGA halftime show.”

The singer was already trending on social media for his 2001 song “Cool, Daddy Cool,” which includes a lyric about young, underage girls.

“Young ladies, young ladies, I like ‘em underage,” he sang on the track. “See some say that’s statutory.”

The late rapper Joe-C then adds, “But I say it’s mandatory.”

Kid Rock appeared to address the controversy on Instagram, sharing a Kobe Bryant quote that was titled “Mamba Mentality.”

“Learn to love the hate,” it read. “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.”

“This goes out to all the ICE agents, wherever you are,” Armstrong said. “Quit your s***ty ass job. Quit that s***ty job you have. Because when this is over, and it will be over at some point in time, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Donald Trump — they’re gonna drop you like a bad f***ing habit.”

Green Day will open Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

Several popular bars in downtown Nashville plan to turn off the Super Bowl at halftime — and switch to the All-American Halftime show, according to a report.

Steve Smith, who owns multiple bars in Nashville’s entertainment district, including Kid Rock’s Big A** Honky Tonk & Steakhouse, told The Tennessean his businesses “will not be watching the Super Bowl halftime.”

Smith said his other businesses, which include Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Honky Tonk Central, Rippy’s Honky Tonk and The Diner, will also change the channel.

Meanwhile, Kid Rock’s other Nashville business, the Detroit Cowboy restaurant, will be closed Sunday.

Another downtown bar called Redneck Riviera, owned by John Rich, also told the newspaper that it plans to switch to TPUSA’s programming at halftime.

Not all bars and businesses in Nashville plan to make the switch. Friends in Low Places, a bar co-owned by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, will host a Super Bowl watch party and will play the entire Super Bowl as scheduled, according to the report.

Days before headlining Turning Point USA’s alternative to the Super Bowl halftime, Kid Rock seemed to address the backlash pointed at conservatives over the event.

The 55-year-old country rocker shared an image of a quote from legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant on Instagram Friday.

“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,” the quote read.

Artists Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett will perform at the Turning Point USA event, the organization announced Monday.

More Americans are interested in watching Bad Bunny perform in Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show than Turning Point USA’s MAGA fest.

The “All-American Halftime Show” was born out of conservatives’ frustrations with Puerto-Rican-born singer Bad Bunny being named the Super Bowl’s halftime performer this year.

However, a new YouGov America survey released Friday found that 35 percent of respondents prefer Bad Bunny’s show compared to 28 percent who said they were more interested in the Kid Rock-headlined event.

The split in viewership was cut across party lines, with 55 percent of Republican respondents saying they would prefer the Turning Point program, while only 13 percent of Republicans said they would watch Bad Bunny’s performance.

Meanwhile, 63 percent of Democratic respondents said they would prefer Bad Bunny’s performance compared to only 7 percent of Democrats who said they’d prefer the MAGA-backed alternative.

Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” will hit airwaves at the same time as the NFL Super Bowl LX halftime show.

The event is free to view and is intended to rival Apple Music’s Halftime Show, which will be headlined by Spanish-speaking singer and rapper, Bad Bunny.

TPUSA’s answer to Republican skepticism of the Puerto-Rican-born singer’s performance is the “All American Halftime Show,” which will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The performance, headlined by Kid Rock, will stream its own event on its social channels, including its YouTube, Rumble and X channels.

It’s still unknown where the event will be held, though it will broadcast across four conservative networks: Charge!, DailyWire+, TBN and Real America’s Voice.

The Super Bowl halftime happens midway through the game, typically between 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET.

It’s expected that Turning Point USA will air its rival halftime show within that same window.

The event’s website says it will celebrate “faith, family and freedom.”

Kid Rock’s performance at Turning Point USA’s halftime show comes a day after his country music festival’s stop in South Carolina was unexpectedly canceled.

The multi-city festival was scheduled to run for two days per venue in eight U.S. states from May 1 to September 21.

The festival’s stop in Anderson, South Carolina — which was scheduled for July 25 and 26 — will no longer take place, county administrator Rusty Burns told Fox Carolina.

The Anderson lineup originally featured Kid Rock and Jason Aldean as headliners, plus Creed, Shinedown, Brantley Gilbert, Ludacris, Gretchen Wilson, Parmalee, Morgan Wade, Chase Matthew, Lakeview, Fox N’ Vead, and more.