Stars like Maria Shriver, Whoopi Goldberg, and Flava Flav reacted to the NFL star's controversial speech. Even Taylor Swift has been drawn in.
Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker is in the midst of controversy after he gave a controversial speech at a US university. His comments, which have been criticized as “misogynistic” and “homophobic” and seen by some as an attack on equality, have been flooded with reactions from celebrities.
Who is Harrison Butker?
Butker grew up in Decatur, Georgia and is a kicker for the NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs. You may know them from this year's Super Bowl finalists, or Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift among them.
Butker, 28, has won three Super Bowls and is considered one of the best kickers in the NFL. The kicker is a position that is often maligned in the sports world, as the outcome of a game is often determined by the last minute. Butker held his own in several key playoff games, including making the winning kick to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 Super Bowl.
The secretary's salary is estimated to be approximately $4 million (approximately 650 million yen).
What's the controversy?
Mr. Butker recently attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and his comments received a lot of reaction and headlines. He was there to give the commencement speech to the graduates. These are usually filled with the standard inspirational commentary, some personal anecdotes, and, predictably, metaphors that blend athletic achievement with academic success. However, some parts of Mr. Butker's speech caused a lot of controversy.
The NFL star gave a shoutout to the female graduates. “Congratulations to all the women in attendance today on their outstanding achievements,” said Butker. “You should be proud of everything you have achieved so far in your young life. I think it is women who have been told the most diabolical lies, so I would like to speak briefly and directly to them.” She suggested that while some women may be successful in their careers, the “vast majority” are “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into the world.”
He mentioned his wife, Isabel Butker, whom he met in middle school, and credited her with helping him succeed. Ms. Butker then said she agreed that “her life really began when she began fulfilling her mission as a wife and as a mother.” He called her housewife role “one of the most important of all titles.”
His mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, is considered a respected physicist who attended the Women's Liberal Arts School and earned a master's degree in medical physics before attending Georgia Tech.
of guardian He said many of the women Butker works with include Kirsten Krug, executive vice president of operations for the Kansas City Chiefs, Tiffany Morton, assistant athletic trainer, and Rosetta Sinault, director of security. pointed out.
Butker leveled the comments in the LGBTQIA+ community, telling the audience about “the kind of pride that dedicates an entire month to a deadly sin.”
He also criticized the response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden and Planned Parenthood. “Bad policies and poor leadership are having a negative impact on key livelihood issues,” he said. “Abortion, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, euthanasia, and the growing support for corrupt cultural values and media all result from widespread anarchy.”
He addressed the men in the audience and discussed the “cultural castration” of men. “We set the tone for the culture,” Butker said. “The absence of men in the home is a major cause of the violence we see across the country.”
Butker, who is Catholic, said some Catholic leaders are “imposing a dangerous gender ideology on America's youth.”
He even brought Taylor Swift into the whole story, though he didn't explicitly mention her name, instead positioning the Grammy-winning billionaire as Travis Kelce's romantic partner.
“As my teammate's girlfriend says, 'Familiarity breeds contempt,'” Butker said in his commencement speech, a quote from Swift's 2022 single. bejeweled – As Swifties pointed out, the song details how a successful woman steps out of the shadow of a man and shines on her own.
What was people's reaction?
Some celebrities have been vocal in their criticism of Mr. Butker.
Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family and former California first lady who was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger from 1986 to 2021, released a series of critical thoughts about Butker's comments.
She posted to X expressing her disbelief that he would make such statements about women and the LGBTQI community and asked what he meant. And while Mr. Shriver acknowledged Mr. Shriver's right to free speech, he asserted his right to disagree, calling it “a benefit of living in a democracy,'' and that those who have a voice have “the right to disagree with Mr. Butker.'' There is,” he said.
Shriver said she thought it was “demeaning to women to suggest that options other than wifehood and motherhood pale in comparison to the options of being a housewife.”
She also threw the ball to Butker's wife, Isabel. “It's a luxury to have the options she has,” Shriver wrote, noting that most families can only get by if both parents work. “While putting food on the table, the majority of women also have to raise children, care for aging parents, run businesses, volunteer in their communities, and run for office to bring about a better world. …The list goes on.”
Singer Maren Morris opined about Butker by deploying a currently trending meme about whether a woman is more afraid of a bear or a man in the woods.
“I choose the bear,” she wrote alongside a clip of the speech Mr. Morris shared on Instagram.
Flavor Fluff alluded to the events in X, advising players to “stay in your lane.”
LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD condemned Butker's speech. “Traditionally, commencement speeches are intended to celebrate and inspire graduates and their families. Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker's commencement speech was not only patently false; “It was inaccurate, ill-informed, and deeply out of step with what the American people think about Pride, LGBTQ people, and women.” “Rather, Butker's comments undermine an experience that is not his own and demonstrate that he is someone who violates his team's commitment to the Kansas City community and the NFL's standards of respect, inclusivity, and diversity across the league.” It made something clear.”
The organization implored those with big platforms, especially athletes, to “use their voices to increase and expand global understanding and acceptance.”
Judge Horne, chairman of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission (2001-2024) and former Kansas City commissioner, is leaving Butker. “Harrison Butker does not and has always represented Kansas City. Kansas City has always been a welcoming, affirming and accepting place for members of the LGBTQ+ community,” he told X. wrote.
Fans have similarly taken to social media to criticize Butker's speech.
Other celebrities also defended Kicker's statements.
“He went to a Catholic university and is a devout Catholic. These are his beliefs and he welcomes them. He doesn't have to believe them. He doesn't have to accept them. That audience. The women who sat there don't have to accept them,” Whoopi Goldberg said. scenery. “Just like we want to honor Colin Kaepernick when he takes a knee, we want to honor those who think differently than us.”
Goldberg also discussed freedom of speech. “He has a right to say what he says,” she said. “It's a problem for me when you say to someone, 'I don't like what you have to say, I'm taking your job away from you because you don't agree with me.'
There were various reactions and reports from graduates. APsome called Butker's comments “terrible,” while others said he said things “people are afraid to say.”
Will this have a big impact on his career and popularity?
I don't understand this yet. Given the wide range of opinions and sizable traditional and conservative fan base in the United States, not to mention the growing “trad wife” lifestyle movement, Mr. Butker probably has no concerns for those who agree with him. There will be enough.
But if teammates speak out and more celebrities voice their concerns, we might see an apology from the Chiefs kicker for “causing offense.”
The petition asks the Chiefs to kick Butker, who has one year left on his five-year contract, from the Kansas City Chiefs team. A Change.org petition has 145,952 signatures, calling the players' “sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion, racist” comments “dehumanizing.”
The NFL reportedly said in a statement that Butker appeared at the university in a “personal capacity” and explained that his views “are not those of the NFL as an organization.” American weekly magazine.
Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, said the NFL is “steadfast in its commitment to inclusion, and that will only make our league stronger.”
The Kansas City Chiefs are currently declining comment.
emma gleeson it is new zealand herald Lifestyle & Entertainment Deputy Editor (Audience). Based in Auckland, we cover entertainment, media and culture.
