Kid Rock Stuns Bill Maher With Baffling Reaction To Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show – HuffPost
Trends ReporterBill Maher was visibly stunned Friday on HBO’s “Real Time” when conservative guest Kid Rock expressed “respect” for rapper Kendrick Lamar and his Super Bowl halftime performance and, despite noting that it “wasn’t my cup of tea,” praised the show’s ethos.“I’m like, this kid pretty much came out figuratively with both middle fingers in the air, doing what he does for the people who love what he does, unapologetically,” Rock told Maher. “And I don’t think he gives a frog’s fat ass what anyone thinks about it.”“So I go, huh, it’s pretty much how I built my entire career,” he continued. “I gotta respect it.”Maher, who presumably expected the outspoken Trump voter to have a wildly different opinion on the event, was visibly surprised by Rock’s reaction to the show and responded, “Yeah, OK! There we go, common ground.”Rock’s reaction might come as a shock to those who only know him as the pro-Trump rocker who used a machine gun on stacks of Bud Light after a transgender influencer endorsed the American beer. But he started his career as a rapper in the 1990s.“I grew up loving, emulating all things hip-hop,” Rock, born Robert Ritchie, told Maher on Friday. “Breakdancing, DJing, graffiti, rapping, and so I understand the culture a little bit more than most. And when I say most, of course, I mean white people.”While he didn’t bash the halftime set — like fellow conservatives who deemed the show “Satanic” or wondered who “this Kendall Lamar” even is — Rock shared his thoughts on diversity, equity and inclusion within NFL culture during a second Donald Trump presidency.Rock argued Lamar was only picked to perform because the NFL hired Jay-Z as “live music entertainment strategist” after pushing out football star Colin Kaepernick for protesting police brutality in 2016.But Lamar’s show was “the epitome of DEI blowing up,” he said.“[The] NFL is all this DEI, ‘end racism,’ all this stuff, they got Jay-Z in there booking this — and Kendrick Lamar goes out there and basically turns DEI into an IED,” Rock told Maher. “It’s all Black people, or people of color, speaking to his crowd in the hood. Black people. It was like, the most exclusive thing ever.” “I’m like, ‘Fuck yeah, that’s awesome,’” he nonetheless added. “I’m laughing my ass off.”By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
