# TPUSA Halftime show featuring Kid Rock **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422 "2026-02-06T06:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/301 "2026-02-12T20:00:00Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > My preferences are the other way round, but I greatly enjoyed this show and its positive portrayal of puertorriqueños and boricuas. I generally find halftime shows lacklustre. That was my reaction. I usually watch the game, tolerate the commercials, and ignore the halftime show to replenish snacks, etc. This time the show was, if not the highlight, definitely a big contributor to the total evening. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/302 "2026-02-12T20:25:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Once the 2nd quarter clock runs out & play stops, there’s also a few minutes of dead air filled with the game commentators yakking about the lessons of the first half while the stage crew hurriedly gets the performance equipment into place. _Then_ the halftime show starts It took time for all that sugarcane to walk out. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/303 "2026-02-12T21:14:29Z")
Apparently, even right-wing pundits didn’t care for the TPUSA show. It was that bad. > **[Even the Right Wasn’t So Sure About the Turning Point USA Halftime Show](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/tpusa-halftime-show-nick-fuentes-kid-rock-1236502717/)** > > Nick Fuentes slams it while Donald Trump doesn’t comment. And Trump apparently hasn’t commented on this show one way or the other. Meanwhile, others on the right are in hysterics over the Bad Bunny show. They clearly didn’t watch it, and if they did they didn’t understand what they were saying, and have made insane claims about it. > **[Republicans Have Moved Into a New, Even Dumber Phase of Bad Bunny Outrage](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/republicans-investigations-bad-bunny-super-bowl-1235515336/)** > > Right-wing lawmakers have now called for multiple investigations into Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance, calling the halftime show "pure smut." > “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show was pure smut, brazenly aired on national television for every American family to witness. Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air.” Ogles wrote. “The performance’s lyrics openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities.” > > Ogles claimed in a post [on X](https://x.com/RepOgles/status/2020870660755435692) that the show “depicted gay pornography” (we couldn’t find any) and that the performance was “conclusive proof that Puerto Rico should never be a state.” And there are calls from Republican politicians to get the FCC to crack down on it. > “This could be much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.” What a fiasco for the right, though. If there is a culture war going on, they lost this battle. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/304 "2026-02-12T21:29:36Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Meanwhile, others on the right are in hysterics over the Bad Bunny show. They clearly didn’t watch it, and if they did they didn’t understand what they were saying, and have made insane claims about it. > > [Republicans Call for Investigations Over Bad Bunny Super Bowl Show](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/republicans-investigations-bad-bunny-super-bowl-1235515336/) > > > “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show was pure smut, brazenly aired on national television for every American family to witness. Children were forced to endure explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air.” Ogles wrote. Mercy me! Scantily clad [women gyrating provocatively _at the Super Bowl_?!!?! How shockingly unprecedented.](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2332527287223048) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/305 "2026-02-12T21:31:52Z")
I think their biggest issue was men dancing with each other, which is “gay porn”. This is _Footloose_ levels of moral panic. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/306 "2026-02-12T21:37:08Z")
The “gay sex” was a brief snippet of two men grinding. Scandalous, I know. [![](https://people.com/thmb/i7Ox9uNGYuC2gSnWKJIprPMi1Fs=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(736x607:738x609):format(webp)/Dancers-Talks-Bad-Bunny-Super-Bowl-Halftime-Show-021126-38b3dfb13bf5494ea987af5a6c561a6d.jpg) ](https://people.com/thmb/i7Ox9uNGYuC2gSnWKJIprPMi1Fs=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(736x607:738x609):format(webp)/Dancers-Talks-Bad-Bunny-Super-Bowl-Halftime-Show-021126-38b3dfb13bf5494ea987af5a6c561a6d.jpg) As for the smut and profanity – I know the original lyrics to some of his songs include profanity and sexual content, but I heard those lyrics were changed for the performance. I think most (all) of the outrage is based on the original lyrics. Does anyone know if any words made it through that would cause an issue if in English? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/307 "2026-02-12T21:38:48Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I know the original lyrics to some of his songs include profanity and sexual content, but I heard those lyrics were changed for the performance. Green Day was the opening act, and had a song with profanity in it, but that profanity was bleeped out. Where is the outrage for that? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/308 "2026-02-12T21:40:15Z")
Well, I’m a little outraged it was bleeped. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/309 "2026-02-13T00:53:36Z")
Gyrating? Good heavens. Next thing you know, cheerleaders will be in miniskirts and Elvis will perform. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/310 "2026-02-13T01:07:13Z")
Hey, if there’s anyone who knows what constitutes gay porn, it’s congressional Republicans. > **[Grindr CEO confirms ‘significant’ user spike during RNC](https://unherd.com/newsroom/grindr-ceo-confirms-significant-user-spike-during-rnc/)** > > Grindr’s CEO has acknowledged that the app had a “significant spike in usage” during last year’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. In a new interview with UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers, George Arison dismissed rumours that traffic had caused... ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/311 "2026-02-13T02:55:56Z")
Seriously? The Republican criticizing this is named Ogles? “Personally, I never much cared for that newfangled jazz music. Once that Elvis fella started _shaking his hips_ on prime time television it was time to move the cameras and focus on the upper body lest people get ideas.” In fact, this halftime show was very tame compared to recent years. Was anyone scantily clad? Hardly. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/312 "2026-02-13T03:10:21Z")
I saw several stories today on social media claiming that TPUSA’s publicized online viewership numbers for their halftime show was inflated by bot traffic; the stories indicated that, despite high “viewers,” chat traffic on the stream was very low – which they claim is frequently a sign of viewers being bots. However, I’m not yet seeing anything solid on that. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/313 "2026-02-13T04:05:52Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Gyrating? Good heavens. Next thing you know, cheerleaders will be in miniskirts Yeah, those SB cheerleaders in the clip I linked above are actually showing considerably more asscheek and cleavage than Bad Bunny’s ensemble dancers. But they’re holding pompoms in team colors, so that makes it “wholesome”. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/314 "2026-02-13T10:46:59Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Gyrating? Good heavens. Tell me about it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/315 "2026-02-13T12:49:17Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I didn’t know it was possible, but my eyebrows just shot right off of my head. Spoons is right, Bunny shouldn’t have portrayed Canada as “basically America” given all the bullshit that Trump is directing toward Canada. And moreover, while Trump has been doing Latin America dirty like basically other administration for a very long time, he hasn’t been saying to any of them “you are not a real sovereign country, you’re basically a US state or will be, your head of state is going to be one of my governors.” That’s strictly for Canada and Greenland. Not to fault Bunny excessively for what’s essentially a nitpick, but he should’ve stuck with elevating Latin America without presuming to lump in Canada with a list of other countries who feel their status would be more legitimized by being grouped under the “America” label. If Costa Rica feels elevated and respected by calling them “American” then by all means let’s do that for them, but Canada isn’t a nation that needs nor wants that. Canada is part of North America. The US is part of North America. Canada is not “America” nor “American”. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/316 "2026-02-13T13:08:45Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > And moreover, while Trump has been doing Latin America dirty like basically other administration for a very long time, he hasn’t been saying to any of them “you are not a real sovereign country, you’re basically a US state or will be, your head of state is going to be one of my governors.” Dude, he kidnapped the president of Venezuela and says that the U.S. “runs the country” now. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/317 "2026-02-13T13:14:32Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > he should’ve stuck with elevating Latin America without presuming to lump in Canada with a list of other countries who feel their status would be more legitimized by being grouped under the “America” label. But then you just KNOW there would be conversely a bunch of Canadians asking “what am I, chopped liver?” over being excluded, wouldn’t there? At least, **outside SDMB** — I’ve been seeing _happy_ Canadians about it on my InstaGram the past few days too. So: how each person feels is how they feel. I’m not going to tell them they’re wrong for feeling that way. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/318 "2026-02-13T13:18:19Z")
I find this whole take completely bananas. Trump has been an impolite jerk to Canada, but he’s not been murdering Canadian citizens using the US military and committing war crimes against Canada. To act like Canada has it worse than other nations is so wrong I don’t even know where to begin. Moreover, to complain that Bad Bunny is “elevating Latin America” is _completely_ missing the point. He’s not legitimizing other nations by associating them with the United States. Latin America doesn’t need that sort of condescension or patronizing, and that’s not what he was doing. He was _redefining_ America to decenter the United States: to say that when we talk about America, we should be talking about the entire hemisphere. What he said is, in Spanish, completely unremarkable. It’s a multilingual bit of rhetoric he was engaging in, using a one-to-one translation of a Spanish word to English to carry the Spanish connotations of the word into English. Anyone complaining that Canada isn’t American should study some Spanish to understand the point. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/319 "2026-02-13T13:23:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Moreover, to complain that Bad Bunny is “elevating Latin America” I was thinking about this, it could be interpreted as “Comparing Latin America to the U.S. elevates Latin Amercia, while doing so to Canada denigrates Canada, so Latin America \> U.S. \> Canada”… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422/320 "2026-02-13T16:06:05Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Not to fault Bunny excessively for what’s essentially a nitpick, but he should’ve stuck with elevating Latin America without presuming to lump in Canada with a list of other countries who feel their status would be more legitimized by being grouped under the “America” label. If Costa Rica feels elevated and respected by calling them “American” then by all means let’s do that for them, but Canada isn’t a nation that needs nor wants that. He simply said, “God Bless America” and then went on to say, “God Bless Chile”, “God Bless Argentina” and so forth. That’s just recognizing the various countries in the Americas. Is that somehow “elevating” these countries? Or calling them American? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tpusa-halftime-show-featuring-kid-rock/1027422.md?page=17)