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Conservatives confused by widely-praised Super Bowl halftime show as Charlie Kirk calls it ‘sexual anarchy’

Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent performed together at SoFi Stadium on 13 February

Oliver O'Connell
New York
Monday 14 February 2022 13:08 GMT
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Super Bowl 2022 halftime show: The five biggest talking points
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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk is being mocked online after branding the widely-praised Super Bowl Pepsi halftime show as “sexual anarchy”.

Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent performed together at the SoFi Stadium as the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams competed in Super Bowl 56.

After the halftime show was over, the Turning Point USA founder tweeted: “The NFL is now the league of sexual anarchy. This halftime show should not be allowed on television.”

The tweet was met with amusement by many with some accusing him of exercising his own form of cancel culture, while others called him a prude and asked if he had a problem with black people.

California Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted: “You tiny, tiny boy. How can we help you?”

A retro gaming company replied to the tweet reminding Mr Kirk of a 2017 post of his own in which he said: “Just because you are offended doesn’t mean you are right.”

Attorney Ron Filipkowski tweeted: “I’ve been trying to figure out what Charlie Kirk means by ‘sexual anarchy.’ I’m not exactly sure, but I think it’s probably better than whatever the opposite is.”

Fellow conservative Sean Spicer appeared confused by the show, tweeting: “Dear @NFL / @pepsi What was the message of the #HalfTimeShow?”

One reply to that read: “What was the message of your appearance on Dancing with the Has Been Stars?” with a gif attached of Spicer on Dancing with the Stars.

Another person wrote: “Show us on the critical race theory poster where this hurt you.”

One conservative who did appreciate the show was Blexit founder Candace Owens: “This is an excellent Super Bowl halftime performance.”

“Undeniable hip-hop and R&B excellence,” she added.

Many of her conservative followers disagreed, complaining of a lack of diversity, that it was “catering to 13 per cent of the nation”, and some saying they didn’t understand the lyrics.

One person suggested that she might like to explain the show to Mr Kirk.

As for the artists, Snoop posted a celebratory message of thanks after the performance: “Thank you 4 a beautiful night!!”

In a press conference before the Super Bowl, Dr Dre said the NFL was late embracing hip hop, and vowed that their Super Bowl halftime show would create more opportunities for the genre.

“We’re going to open more doors for hip-hop artists in the future and making sure that the NFL understands that this is what it should have been long time ago,” he said.

“It’s crazy that it took all of this time for us to be recognised. I think we’re going to do a fantastic job. We’re going to do it so big that they can’t deny us anymore in the future.”

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