Eminem and Jack White’s Thanksgiving Firestorm: NFL Under Siege to Scrap Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX Slot

Ford Field didn’t just host a football game on Thanksgiving—it hosted a revolution. As the Detroit Lions clashed with the Green Bay Packers on November 27, 2025, the halftime show erupted into chaos when rock legend Jack White unleashed a blistering set, only to summon hometown hero Eminem for a surprise mash-up that had 65,000 fans roaring and millions more glued to their screens. Now, just two days later, that electric 10-minute spectacle is rippling through the NFL like a shockwave, with league insiders whispering that Super Bowl LX’s planned headliner, Bad Bunny, might be collateral damage.

The Detroit halftime show was less a performance and more a Molotov cocktail lobbed at the NFL’s entertainment status quo.
White, fresh off his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction with The White Stripes, stormed the stage with “That’s How I’m Feeling” from his 2024 album No Name, his guitar snarling like a chainsaw through the Motor City’s fog. Then, as the crowd chanted the opening bars of “‘Till I Collapse,” Eminem exploded from a trapdoor riser in a custom Lions hoodie, transforming the track into a hard-rock frenzy fused with White’s “Hello Operator.” The duo capped it with a thunderous “Seven Nation Army,” backed by the Lions cheerleaders stomping in formation. Produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment—the same team behind this year’s Super Bowl LIX spectacle with Kendrick Lamar—it was raw, unfiltered Detroit grit, clocking in under 15 minutes but landing like a full-set encore.

Eminem’s multi-year deal as executive producer turned a routine holiday tradition into a blueprint for unapologetic authenticity.
Announced just weeks earlier, the partnership between Eminem, his manager Paul Rosenberg, and the Lions hands the duo creative control over Thanksgiving halftime productions through 2027. What started as a bid to “represent the attributes and values of the city,” per JCE’s Seth Dudowsky, exploded into a masterclass in cross-generational firepower. Eminem, a lifelong Lions diehard who’s headlined stadiums from Detroit to Wembley, didn’t just cameo—he coaxed White, a fellow Detroiter and 12-time Grammy winner, into blending indie rock edge with hip-hop bravado. The result? A three-song EP, Live at Ford Field, dropped overnight on streaming platforms via Third Man/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, already topping viral charts and racking up 5 million plays.

Social media crowned the show an instant legend, dubbing it “better than any Super Bowl halftime in two decades.”
From Reddit’s r/nfl (“Best T-day halftime in a while”) to X’s frenzy (“Jack White and Eminem clears the entire Super Bowl lineup”), reactions poured in like confetti. Millennials swooned over the nostalgia hit, with one viral post quipping, “What did we do to deserve this?” Even skeptics melted: a metalhead confessed chills, while a Packers fan admitted, “I forgot the score.” Andrea Bocelli and Plácido Domingo showered praise online, and CeCe Winans, who sang the national anthem pre-game, called it “pure Detroit soul.” By Black Friday, #LionsHalftime trended globally, with fan edits overlaying the mash-up on everything from fireworks to family feasts.

The backlash against Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX booking, announced in September 2025, was already simmering—but this lit the fuse.
Roc Nation’s selection of the Puerto Rican reggaeton star for the February 8, 2026, show at Levi’s Stadium drew fire from conservatives like Charlie Kirk and Tomi Lahren, who slammed his Spanish lyrics and anti-Trump stance as “un-American.” Petitions to “cancel” the gig garnered 500,000 signatures, accusing the NFL of prioritizing “woke” agendas over broad appeal. Kirk’s Turning Point USA even teased a rival “Patriot Halftime Show,” though details remain scarce. White’s anti-MAGA merch and Eminem’s history of cultural provocation only amplified the irony, with X users mocking, “Wait till the Bad Bunny haters learn Jack White calls Trump a fascist.”

League sources confirm the pressure is mounting, with internal memos floating ideas to pivot before rehearsals lock in.
Multiple insiders, speaking anonymously to outlets like OutKick and The Athletic, reveal NFL execs blindsided by the Thanksgiving triumph. “It’s not just hype—it’s a ratings monster,” one said, noting the Lions game drew 28 million viewers, up 15% from last year, with the halftime spike attributed to White and Em’s star power. Roc Nation, led by Jay-Z, faces a dilemma: Bad Bunny’s global draw (he’s sold 40 million albums) clashes with America’s heartland base, especially post-Lamar’s polarizing LIX show. Whispers suggest alternatives like a White-Eminem reunion or even a Lions-themed all-star jam, but contracts complicate swaps. “They’re scrambling,” a source added. “This could redefine the blueprint.”

In an era of sanitized spectacles, Eminem and White proved halftime can be dangerous, diverse, and downright Detroit.
No pyrotechnics overload, no guest parade—just two icons channeling the city’s blue-collar fury into something transcendent. As one fan put it on X: “This is what happens when you let artists cook instead of committee.” The EP’s success hints at more collabs, perhaps teasing Eminem’s long-rumored rock pivot. For the NFL, it’s a wake-up: ignore the roar at your peril.

Super Bowl LX looms eight weeks away, but Ford Field’s echo refuses to fade. Bad Bunny’s trap beats might still drop, or the league could blink, swapping reggaeton for rap-rock redemption. Either way, Eminem and Jack White didn’t just set the field ablaze—they torched the playbook. And in Motown, that’s how legends burn.