Arts & Entertainment

Kid Rock Pays Off Walmart Layaway Items After Controversy

The Southern rock singer, inspired by actor Tyler Perry, tried to spread some cheer by paying off the balances of 350 layaway accounts.

NASHVILLE, TN — Days after Kid Rock found himself in hot water over his profane comments about Joy Behar, the Southern rock singer decided he wanted to spread a little Christmas cheer. Following in the footsteps of actor Tyler Perry, the singer tweeted Friday that he had paid off the layaway accounts at his local Walmart.

Around 4:30 p.m., he tweeted: "@tylerperry Great idea! I followed your lead and paid off the layaway at my local Walmart in Nashville. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!"

The Tennessean reported that Rock paid off 350 balances at the store located on 3458 Dickerson Pike. The total amounted to about $81,000, store manager Tom Meyer said.

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"Kudos to Kid Rock for making such a gesture in our community," Meyer said. "I think that's a pretty Nashville proud moment."

Rock himself reportedly called the store Friday morning to explain his idea. The artist's manager later came into the store to make the payment.

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Shoppers were, needless to say, thrilled. A 3-year-old child named Dustin will be able to say his first guitar was bought by a music superstar.

Rock's actions helped one family in particular.

Twitter user @IndicaStonerGrl responded to his tweet saying: "@KidRock We were gonna have to give up our kids christmas this year because we needed to pay rent but now, because of you, our babies will have a good christmas!! So thank you so much!!"

The gesture came days after the Rock was booted from leading the Nashville Christmas Parade. During a live interview with the show "Fox & Friends" from his Nashville bar, Rock used an expletive to describe Behar.

“God forbid you say something a little wrong; you’re racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, this that and the other. People need to calm down, get a little less politically correct,” Kid Rock said. “And I would say, you know, love everybody. Except, I’d say screw that Joy Behar (expletive).

Multiple personalities on the show apologized for his comments. Rock himself also apologized for the remarks, but not the sentiment behind them.

Photo credit: Oliver Contreras - Pool/Getty Images


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