Travis Kelce responds to teammate quoting Taylor Swift in controversial graduation speech
Travis Kelce has stated he didn’t agree with “nearly any” of his teammate Harrison Butker’s controversial graduation speech through which he quoted Taylor Swift.
On Might 11, Butker, the kicker for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, delivered a graduation speech at Benedictine School’s commencement ceremony, which sparked a backlash on social media.
In it, he quoted a lyric from Swift’s track ‘Bejeweled’ (from 2022’s ‘Midnights’): “As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’,” he stated, earlier than instantly addressing the ladies within the room.
“I need to communicate on to you briefly as a result of I feel it’s you, the ladies, who’ve had essentially the most diabolical lies informed to you.”
Butker continued: “A few of it’s possible you’ll go on to guide profitable careers on this planet, however I’d enterprise to guess that almost all of you might be most enthusiastic about your marriage and the youngsters you’ll convey into this world.”
And now Kelce, who performs tight finish for the Chiefs and is in a high-profile relationship with Swift, has addressed the speech on his New Heights podcast along with his brother Jason. Watch his feedback under, beginning at 24 minutes:
Kelce defined that Butker is his buddy and he “cherishes him as a teammate”, however was fast to distance himself from the emotions expressed within the speech.
“When it comes right down to his views and what he stated on the St. Benedict’s graduation speech… These are his, I can’t say I agree with the vast majority of it or simply about any of it,” he stated.
“Outdoors of him loving his household and his youngsters. I don’t assume I ought to choose him by his views, particularly his spiritual views. … I grew up in a phenomenal upbringing of various social courses, completely different religions, completely different races and ethnicities in Cleveland Heights.”
Kelce went on to say that he was happy with the truth that his mom in addition to his father supplied for his household. “They had been homemakers and so they had been suppliers and so they had been unbelievable at being current each single day in my life,” he stated.
Later in his speech, Butker additionally went on to handle the male graduates by advising them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity” and to “battle in opposition to the cultural emasculation of males”. He additionally hit out on the LGBTQ+ group, calling their satisfaction “lethal sins”.
The speech drew outcries from a number of locations, together with Swift followers, and the NFL itself, whose senior vice chairman and chief variety and inclusion officer stated: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his private capability. His views should not these of the NFL as a corporation. The NFL is steadfast in our dedication to inclusion, which solely makes our league stronger.”