Kid Rock was not a fan of Conan O’Brien Oscars joke targeting Turning Point USA‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show, where the musician served as the headlining act. During his opening monologue while hosting the 2026 Oscars, O’Brien quipped: “Tonight could get political, and if that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock. It’s at the Dave & Buster’s down the street.”
“I love a good joke, even when I am the butt of it, unfortunately this was not a very good one,” Kid Rock posted on X in reaction to O’Brien’s Turning Point USA jab. The musician added that “if you want to see a REAL good show this spring / summer that celebrates America and 250 years of Freedom” then you can attend his tour.
Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show aired on Super Bowl Sunday as an act of protest against the NFL’s decision to have Bad Bunny perform during the big game. Artists who performed during the show included Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett and Lee Brice. Kid Rock’s set drew accusations that he was lip-syncing the song “Bawitdaba” after he appeared blatantly out of sync with the background music track. Kid Rock denied such accusations on X, writing: “No lip-syncing like the haters and fake news are trying to report.”
“That song is chaos,” Kid Rock then explained in a video post. “The first thing is, if I was ever going to lip sync — which I wouldn’t — that would be the last song I would ever do it to. We performed this song every night on tour since 1998 since the day it was released. Turning Point USA sent me a first cut [after] we taped it and my comment was, ‘the sync is off.’ They were trying to line it up … It was very difficult for them, because somebody clearly wasn’t super familiar with the song. It could have been done had we had more time.”
“So I have nothing but good things to say — not only about Turning Point, but the production team that they work with,” he continued. “Nobody’s perfect every time. But for the haters and the trolls out there, that’s exactly what happened. And by the way, most of you know this. Some of you in the entertainment world can look at that and be like, ‘the sync is off.’ But they had to lie and say, ‘Oh, he was lip syncing.’ Then people amplify this all over the internet. And I know most people don’t even care, but the certain people just keep repeating it, so people think it’s a fact. And this goes on on both sides. They did it to Bad Bunny, in his defense, when … he was on ‘Saturday Night Live’… they [claim lip syncing] far too often, especially in the fake news media, the left-wingers, the crazy libtards.”
In an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” the night after both halftime shows, Kid Rock shaded Bad Bunny by saying of his performance: “Like most people, I didn’t understand any of it. I saw there’s a lot of dancers and a lot of big to-do stuff. And, you know, he said he wanted to have a dance party; it looked like he had one.”
Kid Rock continued, “Not my cup of tea, but I don’t fault that kid for doing the Super Bowl, getting in front of a global audience. I fault the NFL for putting him in that position and Turning Point for having to come out and have an alternative for people to watch. You know, it’s just — poor kid.”
I love a good joke, even when I am the butt of it, unfortunately this was not a very good one.
Either way, if you want to see a REAL good show this spring / summer that celebrates America and 250 years of Freedom – make sure you buy your tickets from (ugh) Ticketmaster for my… https://t.co/krNt2iJnHP
— KidRock (@KidRock) March 16, 2026