by Sharelle B. McNair
February 10, 2026
More than 135 million viewers tuned in to catch Bunny’s vivid message of togetherness and love.
Despite pressure from President Donald Trump and loyal MAGA followers to support rock star Kid Rock, who headlined Turning Point USA’s “All-American” halftime show, even he tuned into the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance featuring Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. Social media users made sure to keep “fans” updated on how things were going.
It has been reported that the show, designed to protest Bad Bunny’s performance, had roughly 6 million viewers during its live—or alleged — broadcast.
With headlining performances from country stars like Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett, one of the first things viewers accused the conservative organization of is not actually being live as promised. Social media fled to X, where the show was not played due to “licensing restrictions,” and accused the Detroit-born performer of lip-syncing, drawing comparison to a former musical group known for the practice. “After seeing the videos of Kid Rock blatantly lip synching his performance…because he can’t sing worth sh*t. Here he is with 2 way more talented artists than he is,” @tricky4477 wrote.
@allenanalysis called it “not authentic, just noise.”
“Not live. Not authentic. Just noise. That’s what the “alternative halftime show,” continued @tricky4477.
New data suggest broader public support for Bad Bunny, who recently made Grammy history when his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first fully Spanish-language project to win album of the year. A YouGov America survey found that 35% of respondents preferred the “DTMF” singer as a performer, compared with 28% for Kid Rock, according to The Independent.
More than 135 million viewers tuned in to catch Bunny’s vivid message of togetherness and love, a homage to those who came before him. The message, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” shone on the jumbotrons of California’s Levi’s Stadium while Benito ended the show by saying “God Bless America” and then continued to share the love by shouting out more than 20 countries of the Americas.
Kid Rock went into the alternate halftime show with bad news. Just days before, it was announced his Rock the Country festival was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Social media tapped into Rock’s, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, days of pushing hateful rhetoric and pushing potential viewers to make the “right choice.” “What are y’all going to be watching during halftime of the Super Bowl: The pro-America Bad Bunny performance — or the pro-pedophilia, pro-Nazi hate rally with Kid Rock?” @maddenifico wrote with side-by-side pictures of the known act.
As the president labeled the dancers performing alongside Benito as “disgusting,” lyrics from Rock’s 2021 song, “Cool Daddy Cool,” have uplifted similar thoughts, highlighting thoughts of the song being about underage girls.
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