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Despite being the most viewed Super Bowl Halftime Performance of all time, the Bad Bunny Halftime Show continues to be the subject of heavy backlash. But it’s not just Benito, who is the subject of that criticism. Jay-Z and the NFL have taken their share of licks as well. The most recent critic to target the Brooklyn rapper was Kid Rock.
Kid Rock Calls Jay-Z’s NFL Partnership a ‘DEI Hire’
Since 2019, Jay-Z has served as the NFL’s Live Music Entertainment Strategist through a partnership with his Roc Nation agency. Through this partnership, Jay-Z has full control over selecting Super Bowl halftime performers and producing the show. During a recent appearance on Fox News, Kid Rock called Hov’s NFL partnership a ‘DEI’ hire.
“Nothing against Jay-Z. You know I respect his hustle, his music. But there seems to be a little bit of a DEI hire going on there,” he said. “To kind of be like ‘oh, you know black guys love Jay-Z.’ Of course, I’m not that ignorant, you know. Many of us love Jay-Z, not just black people. But you know it seems like in a league where you have this problem, it just seems like they said ‘oh well we’ll bring him in’ and you know Jay-Z isn’t going to [turn down] that position and that power and that money.”
Kid Rock: Nothing against Jay-Z… But it seems like there's a little bit of a DEI hire there going on. pic.twitter.com/E4VFvkHmkq
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2026
The irony of the entire segment is uncanny. The person interviewing Kid Rock, Laura Ingraham, is the same news anchor who infamously told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” when he spoke out against President Donald Trump during his first term.
It should also be noted that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is an organizational framework designed to promote the fair treatment of people from historically underrepresented or marginalized groups. With a net worth of over a billion dollars, it’s safe to say that Jay-Z isn’t part of any marginalized group. So he wouldn’t qualify as a DEI hire in any capacity.
