Kid Rock has been accused of miming during a performance at a MAGA-friendly alternative to the Super Bowl half time show.
Yes, you read that correctly. So incensed were the MAGA faithful that Bad Bunny – a critic of the Trump regime – had been chosen to headline the prestigious official gig that they organised their own ‘All-American’ alternative at Levi’s Stadium in California to run concurrently with the main Super Bowl show. Rock appeared alongside country musicians Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and Gabby Barnett.
That’s America in 2026: two nations with separate media, separate facts and now separate Super Bowl Half Time shows.
Anyway, the show’s headliner seems to have been well and truly busted regarding miming. As you tell from the clip below, the 55-year-old rapper takes his mouth away from the microphone several times during his performance of his 1999 hit Bawitdaba. And yet his voice continues. At other times, the shapes he appears to be making with his mouth do not appear to match the audio.
I’m sorry this cannot be real pic.twitter.com/xiYYoUwH8TFebruary 9, 2026
Social media was not impressed. “Kid Rock is blatantly lip syncing, it’s all prerecorded & he wasn’t even trying,” posted one observer on Twitter/X, with another adding: “Kid Rock forgets his lyrics during his song showing all the MAGA Far Right that he wasn’t even singing. What a complete and utter embarrassment.”
Another fan wrote: “Kid Rock couldn’t even be bothered to sing live. Instead, some truly awful lip-syncing.”
Beforehand, the rapper had explained the thinking behind the concert, which was organised by the far-right grouping Turning Point USA: “There’s a big portion of this country, like it or not, that’s underserved entertainment-wise,” he said. “We’re just (going to) go play for our base. You know, people who love America, love football, love Jesus.”
The show was watched by an estimated 6.1 million on YouTube, though that doesn’t take into account how many logged on out of morbid curiosity. In any case, that figure was dwarfed by the 120 million plus who watched Bad Bunny, Green Day and Lady Gaga go through their paces.
Inevitably, Trump saw fit to pass comment on the official show, calling it, on his Truth Social platform, “absolutely terrible” and “one of the worst, EVER!”
And in the midst of all this, there was actually some (American) football played. In case you haven’t heard: Seattle Seahawks beat New England Patriots 29 points to 13.
