Grammy Award winner Kendrick Lamar had the honor of headlining this past Sunday’s halftime show for Super Bowl 59. The discourse surrounding his performance has been quite exhausting.

Countless people, including Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, ripped Lamar for having a mediocre halftime show. SMU football coach Rhett Lashlee was much harsher with his review. He tweeted. “Exercising my rare right to be a fan … worst halftime show ever.”

Even though Lamar received a ton of criticism online, his Super Bowl halftime show made history. It was revealed Tuesday that his performance broke the record for most watched halftime show in NFL history with 133.5 million viewers.

Despite Lamar’s historic achievement, former Fox Sports personality Jason Whitlock wasn’t very impressed.

Whitlock said the NFL missed the mark by handing the Super Bowl halftime show to Lamar. He believes he’s not as well-known as someone like Justin Timberlake.

Kendrick Lamar in Super Bowl.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 09: Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

“The reason you put a Michael Jackson out there, the reason you put a Janet Jackson, a Justin Timberlake out there] is because they have so many crossover, major, major songs that when they start to play them, the audience goes, ‘Oh! I remember that song!’ and they start screaming and clapping,” Whitlock said. “Even when they had Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, their catalog of music is so pervasive. There are so many classic songs that people have partied to at some point.

Whitlock then accused Lamar’s halftime show of being anti-American. He’s convinced it was done intentionally.

“There’s so much money in taking a dump on America and traditional sports fans,” Whitlock continued. “People didn’t get it. They intended for you to be asleep. Or maybe Roger Goodell is smart. There’s so much money in hating America that perhaps the NFL gave people exactly what they wanted.”

Lamar has not responded to any of the backlash that he’s receiving from pundits like Whitlock.

For what it’s worth, Lamar wasn’t paid for his performance. His crew, however, was paid a usual halftime performers’ union scale.