Kid Rock Calls Out Jay-Z, Who’s in Charge of Super Bowl Halftime Show Programming, a ‘DEI Hire'

Kid Rock suggested that Jay-Z only has the sway he does over choosing Halftime Show performers because of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News, Rock addressed the dueling halftime shows and theorized that Hov only got his role selecting Halftime Show performers because the NFL wanted to do a DEI hire. “So it goes like, ‘Well, maybe Jay-Z’ll do it,’” he said, as seen in the clip below. “Which, nothing against Jay-Z. I respect him for his hustle and his music, but it seems like there’s a little bit of a DEI hire there going on.” He suggested that the NFL wanted to court more Black male viewership of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and that “Black guys love Jay-Z,” so it seemed like a natural fit. “I’m not that ignorant, I know a lot of us love Jay-Z, not just Black guys,” he continued. “But in the league where you have this problem, it seemed like, ‘Oh, we’ll bring him in. Jay-Z has been at the helm of selecting the performers for the Halftime Show ever since he and Roc Nation signed a long-term partnership with the NFL in 2019. Kid Rock, meanwhile, recently performed at Turning Point USA’s “All-American” halftime show, which streamed live as Bad Bunny performed during the official Super Bowl halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in California. He ended his performance with a tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point, who was fatally shot last year over 135 million viewers tuned in to watch Bad Bunny’s electrifying Halftime Show performance. Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show,” meanwhile, drew in only 6.1 million concurrent viewers. Bad Bunny’s performance has received a lot of praise, while Kid Rock’s was mostly only getting attention from the diehard MAGA crowd. Kacey Musgraves recently remarked that Bad Bunny’s show made her feel “more proudly American” than anything Kid Rock has done.

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