As Bad Bunny took the stage for the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show, conservative group Turning Point USA streamed its All-American Halftime Show as counterprogramming. The event, headlined by Kid Rock, immediately backfired when a decades-old song from the rocker’s catalog resurfaced, igniting backlash over its lyrics.
Kid Rock’s lyrics go viral amid halftime show
The controversy is about the 2001 Kid Rock track “Cool, Daddy Cool,” which features the line, “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage/ See, some say that’s statutory/ But I say it’s mandatory.” The verse, performed by the late rapper Joe C, surged across social media as TPUSA promoted its “faith, family, and freedom” alternative to the NFL’s official Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara.
Additionally, as Kid Rock performed for the TPUSA stream alongside country artists, users unearthed a 2001 Saturday Night Live clip where he made remarks about the then-14-year-old Olsen twins. “Why is every guy in America waiting on these chicks to turn 18?” he said. “If there’s grass on the field, play ball.”
Facing mounting criticism, Kid Rock did not address the lyrics directly. Instead, he shared a social media post featuring a quote about “learn to love the hate” attributed to Kobe Bryant—a move that drew further backlash for deflecting from the core issue.
Moreover, this isn’t Kid Rock’s first brush with Super Bowl controversy. In 2004, he performed during the official halftime show—the one featuring Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction—wearing an American flag as a poncho, which later drew sharp condemnation from veterans’ groups and politicians.
The fallout reflected in California politics as well. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office posted a tongue-in-cheek message declaring “Bad Bunny Day” in California, coinciding with the halftime performance. A separate post jokingly said Kid Rock was “banned from California,” referencing recent cancellations of his “Rock the Country” festival dates.
