As the Super Bowl LX game day arrived on Feb. 8, the usual debate as to which football team would win the big game was overshadowed by a new topic of debate: which halftime show performance would viewers choose to watch?
During this year’s Super Bowl, two halftime performances were available to viewers the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show featuring a performance by Bad Bunny, the Turning Point USA All-American Halftime Show was headlined by Kid Rock.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative organization that was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. The nonprofit organization focuses on advocating for conservative values and politics to students in both high schools and colleges.
On Sept. 20, 2025, Bad Bunny was officially announced as the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show headliner by the NFL. Only three weeks later, TPUSA announced its All-American Halftime Show as an alternative to the Super Bowl’s halftime show. This announcement became highly controversial online.
The TPUSA describes its All-American Halftime Show as a performance celebrating “faith, family, and freedom,” headlined by Kid Rock, along with Gabby Barrett, Lee Brice, and Brantley Gilbert.
Many online have speculated that creation of the TPUSA All-American Halftime Show was born out of racist hatred towards the Puerto Rican music artist.
Before the Super Bowl, online controversies regarding the halftime shows circulated widely. Bad Bunny received backlash from the conservative community, as he has criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as President Donald J. Trump. Additionally, Bad Bunny received heavy criticism due to his discography being almost entirely in Spanish, as the Super Bowl’s viewership heavily consists of non-Spanish speakers.
Bad Bunny was not the only halftime show performer who was criticized online prior to the performances, as mere weeks before the Super Bowl, the lyrics of Kid Rock’s song “Cool, Daddy Cool,” faced controversies.
The lyrics read,“Young ladies, young ladies, I like ‘em underage, see / Some say that’s statutory / But I say it’s mandatory.”
From the main Super Bowl stage on Super Bowl game day, Bad Bunny performed many of his most popular hits, including “DtMF,” “Baile Inolvidable,” and “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii,” and also invited Puerto Rican legend Ricky Martin to perform alongside him.
EHS Freshman and Spanish Club member Ashley Lopez appreciated the cultural inclusion and acknowledgement in Bad Bunny’s performance.
“I was really happy about [the Bad Bunny performance], especially because [of] the inclusion, especially at the end when he was naming all [of] the countries [that make up the Americas]. When he said my country, I started screaming. I started tearing up,” Lopez said.
At the same time, the All-American Halftime Show streamed exclusively online and included headliner Kid Rock performing songs like “Batwitdaba,” and a cover of Cody Johnson’s “Till You Can’t.”
Accusations that Kid Rock of lip-synced his performance circulated the internet with clips revealing his vocals appeared to be slightly out of sync with his microphone movements during his performance of “Bawitdaba.” Kid Rock publicly addressed the accusations on X, formerly Twitter, the day following his halftime performance in order to deny the accusations.
EHS sophomore and Young Democrats Club’s co-treasurer Dane Drozda watched Bad Bunny’s halftime show, highlighting the overall positive tone presented by Bad Bunny’s performance.
“Even if I can’t understand the music, I feel like it sent a good message, and it was good to hear [more] diverse music [compared to] what we normally hear,” Drozda said.
EHS sophomore and founder of Club America, Hannah Gherasim, watched some of each performance.
“I did watch the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Bad Bunny, and then I turned it off halfway through. Then my family switched to Turning Point [USA’s All-American Halftime Show], as we are a Christian household,” Gherasim said.
In a poll conducted by The Stinger with 261 respondents, 77.8 percent of students only watched Bad Bunny in the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. Respondents could also share their thoughts about the performances as well as the controversy that surrounded them.
“The Bad Bunny halftime show was a show I would never forget. My mother is from Puerto Rico, and seeing her so happy to see her country [sic] being represented in an American-based game brought me undeniable joy,” an anonymous respondent said.
3.8 percent of students only watched the All-American Halftime Show. Additionally, 11.5 percent of students watched both performances and 6.9 percent of students watched neither of the performances.
To hear more student opinions on the topic, visit stingerehs.com.
