Why Kid Rock Was Investigated By The Federal Government

Ahh, Kid Rock. He's just the gift that keeps on giving, isn't he? The musician (who was born Robert James Ritchie) has made quite a few controversial choices over the years, which have included his fair share of run-ins with the law. One of the most famous dramas was when Rock got into a physical altercation with Tommy Lee at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. "It's been going on for five years," Rock told "The Mikey Morning Show" shortly after the incident (via Perez Hilton). "I did what any man would do, any man across the country, across the world would do ... it kills me just to be associated with, to have my name in a sentence with him, it honestly destroys me." Rock was cited for misdemeanor battery, but officials did not pursue criminal charges, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Earlier that year, he was arrested after allegedly taking part in a Waffle House brawl and, per Voices of America, spent 12 hours behind bars. The following year, NME reported he received probation for a year and was also sentenced to serve out six hours of anger management and 80 hours of community service.

It wasn't either of those incidents that had the feds on Kid Rock's back.

Kid Rock has become increasingly outspoken when it comes to his political beliefs over the years and even made a bold claim about Donald Trump claiming the former president sought his counsel. He took his political position one step further in July 2017 when he seemingly suggested he had plans to run for Senate. In a tweet on his account, Rock shared an image of a cartoon placard in the ground that read, "Kid Rock for US Senate." "I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real ... kidrockforsenate.com," he wrote alongside the image. "The answer is an absolute YES." Twitter users did some sleuthing that suggested maybe it wasn't as legitimate as Rock made out, with one political reporter noting, "Robert James Ritchie (Kid Rock) hasn't filed any paperwork with the FEC yet. So, it's not really official yet."

In addition to setting up the website, Rock appeared to go pretty hard. Detroit Free Press reported he also sold merchandise featuring the slogan and made a politically motivated speech at his gigs.

Rock was then asked about what was really going on during an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" in October 2017, where he admitted the whole thing was a joke. "F*** no, I'm not running for Senate. Are you f****** kidding me? Like, who couldn't f****** figure that out?" Well, it seems there were a few people who didn't as, in the modified words of Carrie Underwood, maybe next time he'll think before he tweets.

Kid Rock claiming, and then denying, that he was running for Senate had some pretty serious consequences. Watchdog group Common Cause filed a claim suggesting Rock did not abide by the rules of candidate registration and financial reporting, which resulted in the Federal Elections Commission launching an investigation into the whole debacle on the grounds of federal campaign violations, per Detroit Free Press. Luckily for Rock, though, nothing too serious came of the investigation. The Federal Elections Commission decided not to charge the musician and described his fake claims about running as being "an artistic and commercial undertaking."

But Rock's ties to politics didn't actually end there. Fast-forward to January 2022 and Politico claimed that some Congress members who supported former President Donald Trump were supposedly planning to convince him to run in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District. As of February 2023, it doesn't appear Rock had many any moves to actually, officially, properly, run for Senate — so it's probably safe to assume those efforts were in vain.