Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
Country music star Zach Bryan mocked the “alternative halftime show” thrown by Turning Point USA as the “most cringe thing on the planet.” The TPUSA’s halftime show featured performances from country music artists Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert, and Gabby Barrett.
The Apple Music Super Bowl 60 halftime show drew around 135 million viewers on NBC, making it the most-watched halftime show in the history of the big game.
Turning Point USA’s alternative halftime show peaked at about 6 million viewers on YouTube, although it’s been suggested that many of viewers were bots given the lack of activity on the live stream despite the apparent viewership total. The Puppy Bowl, meanwhile, had 12 million viewers.
xQc reacts to the Turning Point USA Halftime show that had 5M viewers but the chat wasn’t moving 😭pic.twitter.com/QI2bojKbFb
— yoxic (@yoxics) February 9, 2026
On his Instagram story, Bryan responded to a DM calling him a “Hollywood sellout” by saying that the act of “a bunch of adults throwing a temper tantrum and their own halftime show” is an incredibly lame move.
Country music star Zach Bryan mocked the TPUSA alternative halftime show as being the most ‘cringe thing on the planet’
“I don’t care what side you’re on, a bunch of adults throwing temper tantrums and their own halftime show is embarrassing as hell and the most cringe s— on the planet,” Bryan posted on his Instagram story.
Zach Bryan on the Turning Point USA halftime show:
“I don’t care what side you’re on, a bunch of adults throwing temper tantrums and their own halftime show is embarrassing as hell and the most cringe shit on the planet” pic.twitter.com/h9CNfpzOSd
— FactPost (@factpostnews) February 9, 2026
Bryan — who served in the United States Navy from 2013 to 2021 — has become one of the biggest country music artists in the world in recent years, having sold over 30 million albums and singles worldwide.
In his October 2025 single “Bad News,” Bryan also spoke out against the beliefs of his perceived base by criticizing ICE and the tactics they’ve been using to round up immigrants.