Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
NFL kicker Harrison Butker has issued a response after Serena Williams mocked his controversial views at the 2024 ESPY Awards.
The NFL star, 28, became the butt of the joke when the 42-year-old tennis champion hosted ESPN’s annual awards show on July 11. During her monologue, Williams was joined by her older sister Venus Williams and Abbott Elementary actor Quinta Brunson to applaud female athletes in the US.
“So go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports,” Venus said, while her sister added: “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”
Brunson agreed with the two athletes’ thoughts about Butker, chiming in: “At all. Like, ever.”
The moment, which took a dig at Butker for his conservative views he expressed about women, was met with applause from the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Kansas City Chiefs kicker was also in attendance - though his reaction wasn’t shown on TV.
Now, the football player has responded to the viral ESPY moment in a statement to NBC Sports.
“I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics,” Butker told the outlet on July 12.
“Sports are supposed to be the great unifier and at an event dedicated to celebrating a diverse group of men and women who have accomplished great feats, she used it as an opportunity to disinvite those with whom she disagrees with from supporting fellow athletes.”
Butker sparked widespread backlash in May after he delivered a controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. During his graduation speech, he criticized President Joe Biden for his faith, attacked LGBTQ+ Pride month and suggested that women should prioritize motherhood over their careers.
When speaking directly to the female graduates in Benedictine College’s class of 2024, Butker claimed they were told “diabolical lies” about their roles in society. After he encouraged these graduates to avoid pursuing a career, he referred to his personal experience, noting that his family was successful because his wife became a homemaker.
“Her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he claimed.
The Chiefs star also told the crowd of graduates that “abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media” were a byproduct of “the pervasiveness of disorder.” He alleged that Biden was only promoting the degeneration of these values by making it seem as though “you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”
The commencement speech was met with immense criticism on social media, prompting Butker’s teammates, including Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, to speak out.
During an episode of Kelce’s New Heights podcast with his brother Jason Kelce, the 34-year-old athlete admitted that he didn’t agree with what Butker said in the speech, but said he wouldn’t judge his friend based on his religious views.
“I can’t say I agree with the majority of it, or just about any of it, outside of just him loving his family or his kids,” Kelce said. “And I don’t think I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views of how he goes about life. That’s just not who I am.”
A spokesperson for the NFL told People that Butker’s “views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”
Shortly after his controversial speech, Butker doubled down on his remarks at a gala presented by a Catholic homeschool organization, the Regina Caeli Academy, where he is a board member.
“The theme for tonight’s gala, Courage Under Fire, was decided many months ago, but it now feels providential that this would be the theme after what we have all witnessed these last two weeks,” Butker said at the event on May 24. “If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now.”
