Kid Rock is facing backlash for another of his appearances on Fox News. During his Oct. 24 appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime, the musician used the R-word when telling the host that he was going to be for Halloween, and now, the Special Olympics is speaking out about his use of the slur.
“The R-Word deeply demeans and harms people with intellectual disabilities,” begins the open letter posted to the Special Olympics website that was penned by Loretta Claiborne, the organization’s chief inspiration officer. “I’m writing to you personally with an urgent request: Please acknowledge the hurt caused and use this moment to stand with us in rejecting that word and the prejudice it represents … Words like ‘retarded’ and ‘retard’ have a long, painful history of being used to belittle and dehumanize. When anyone, especially someone in the public eye uses them, it reopens wounds that so many of us have worked so hard to heal.”
A Pennsylvania native, Claiborne is a speaker and multi-sport athlete who earned the 1996 Arthur Ashe ASPY Courage Award, which Denzel Washington personally presented to her. The seven-time gold medalist was also the first Special Olympics athlete elected to the Special Olympics International Board of Directors.
“You have the chance to turn this incident into a statement of strength, to acknowledge the harm, to stand with people with intellectual disabilities, and to help lead the conversation toward greater understanding and respect,” the letter continues. “I would be honored to speak with you and share more about the movement for inclusion and respect that has changed so many lives, including my own. Together, we can use this moment to build a world where every person is valued and respected.”
Although the 2010s saw a decline in the use and tolerance of the R-word, the slur has been creeping back into the mainstream lexicon this decade — but people are pushing back on its resurgence.
Billboard has reached out to Kid Rock for comment.
The musician’s R-word controversy isn’t the first time Kid Rock’s language has drawn ire. In a 2024 Rolling Stone profile, the country-rock singer repeatedly fired off the N-word and brandished a gun. Three years prior, he spouted a homophobic slur while onstage at a Tennessee bar. “You f—king [slur] with your iPhones out!” he screamed. He defended his words on X at the time, writing in third-person, “If Kid Rock using the word f—-t offends you, good chance you are one. Either way, I know he has a lot of love for his gay friends and I will have a talk with him.”
