“For Erika and Charlie”: Charlie Kirk honored by TPUSA as Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime performance fuels backlash

Super Bowl LX delivered more than touchdowns. It delivered a cultural split that played out in real time, both inside Levi’s Stadium and across millions of screens. While Bad Bunny made history as the first solo Latin artist to headline the halftime show, an alternate broadcast backed by Turning Point USA offered a very different soundtrack. The night quickly became about more than music.

At the center of the counterprogramming effort was a tribute to the late Charlie Kirk. The TPUSA founder, who was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, was honored before a single guitar chord rang out. What followed was a sharp contrast between celebration and protest, vision and backlash.

Super Bowl LX halftime show sparks tribute and backlash as Bad Bunny and TPUSA take divergent stages

The TPUSA All American halftime show opened with Jack Posobiec declaring, “This one's for you Charlie.” On social media, one supporter added, “This is for Erika, Charlie and their family.” Performers echoed that tone.

Lee Brice told viewers, “Charlie gave people a microphone so they could say what's on their mind…this is on mine,” before dedicating a song to Kirk. The YouTube stream drew over five million views, signaling a sizable audience for the alternative event.

Inside the Super Bowl LX stadium, Bad Bunny pressed forward with a tightly crafted 13 minute performance built in just two months. Creative director Harriet Cuddeford said the show carried a simple mission. “If everyone else is making all of this noise, cool, but like, we know what we’re doing,” she said, brushing aside outside criticism.

The production leaned into storytelling. More than 300 dancers filled segmented stages designed as neighborhood vignettes. A real wedding unfolded mid set, chosen from fan invitations the singer personally reviewed.



Late in the performance, Bad Bunny held up a football that read “Together, we are America.” Cuddeford later summed up the message: “We have the same world. We’re all one. We’re all humans. Let us be the same.”

Critics were loud. President Donald Trump also called the show “one of the worst, EVER!” Yet the numbers told a broader story. Millions watched. Millions debated. And for one Sunday night, halftime became a mirror reflecting two very different visions of America.


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