As Turning Point USA prepares to broadcast its All-American Halftime Show during Super Bowl LX weekend, an unexpected flashpoint has emerged around headliner Kid Rock — not for something he’s said recently, but for lyrics from a deep cut in his catalog that have gone viral online.
The alternative halftime performance — designed by the conservative group TPUSA as a “family-friendly celebration of faith, family and freedom” to run opposite the official NFL halftime show — will feature Kid Rock alongside country artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett on February 8.
But shortly after the lineup was announced, social media users began digging into Kid Rock’s past songs, spotlighting a track called “Cool, Daddy Cool” from the 2001 soundtrack to the animated film Osmosis Jones. That song includes a verse in which Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, and his late collaborator Joe-C sing lines that explicitly reference underage girls — lyrics many have described as off-putting or worse in the context of an event marketed around wholesome values.
The specific lines that have circulated widely online include:
“Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage…
Some say that’s statutory, but I say it’s mandatory.”
Because Cool, Daddy Cool was part of a family-oriented movie’s soundtrack, the resurfacing of these lyrics struck many as a glaring contradiction to TPUSA’s branding. Screenshots and clips of the verse began spreading rapidly on platforms like X, Reddit and TikTok, with users contrasting the song’s content against the “faith and family” messaging the show’s promoters have emphasized.
Critics of the decision to book Kid Rock for the show argued that the backlash wasn’t just about politics but about perceived inconsistency in how “family-friendly” values are defined — pointing out that a song with such suggestive lyrics being tied to a faith-focused event would seem unusual to many observers. Some social media commentators even joked about the possibility of Kid Rock performing the song at the show, though there’s no indication he actually plans to include it in his set.
Supporters of the alternative halftime event — including conservative personalities who have publicly backed TPUSA’s initiative — responded by doubling down on the broader cultural framing, saying the show is meant to offer a patriotic theatrical alternative to mainstream entertainment. But for many online critics, the viral resurfacing of “Cool, Daddy Cool” illustrated how easily past work can reemerge and complicate current promotional narratives.
As of now, neither Kid Rock nor Turning Point USA has publicly commented on the specific controversy surrounding the song’s lyrics, and it remains unclear if it will affect his performance or the event’s programming. Regardless, the episode has become one of the defining talking points about the All-American Halftime Show in the days leading up to Super Bowl LX.
