Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is facing criticism for delivering a commencement speech at Benedictine College, Kansas where he attacked Pride, abortion rights, told female graduates that their most important role in life is to be a "homemaker," and uh, referred to Taylor Swift as "my teammate's girlfriend."
In his 20-minute-long speech, Butker addressed women, saying they have had "the most diabolical lies told to you," going on to state that "things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerative cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world," he added, "but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
He then spoke of his own wife Isabelle and her pursuit of a career, saying, “Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you ask her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation, and say, ‘Heck, no.’”
The comments are especially interesting, considering Butker's mom is an accomplished physicist who works in the department of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.
Butker didn't stop there. He also spoke of Pride as one of the “deadly sins,” and railed against “dangerous gender ideologies” and the “tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion.” He also called out President Joe Biden for supporting “the murder of innocent babies.”
To the men, Butker urged to “be unapologetic in your masculinity” and to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
Criticism has come from all over the world. GLAAD has called Butker's speech "woefully out of step with Americans about pride, LGBTQ people and women." The official Kansas City social account even pointed out that Butker lives in the City of Lee's Summit, not KC. And fans have flocked to the athlete's Instagram to comment on every one of his posts, sharing their disgust.
There is even a Change.org petition to have the Kansas City Chiefs cut him from the team. And it's getting a lot of signatures!
But to some, the most controversial moment in his speech came when he referenced Taylor Swift and her song "Bejeweled," identifying her as Travis Kelce's "girlfriend."
“As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’,” Butker said before he addressed the women in the room.
Like any good fan base, the Swifties were pretty quick to drag him for using their Queen to express his misogynistic views, with many posting Swift's own commencement speech from 2022, which she delivered to New York University and encouraged fans to "create a reality where only your experience exists."
See some of their retorts below.
Petition to replace Harrison Butker with Taylor Swift as the kicker for the Chiefs https://t.co/62ihZnIzCV pic.twitter.com/9TnEYAmRW0
— MidnightMak (@5280Swiftie) May 14, 2024
@cheriecrim #duet with @Human Rights Campaign #NFL #taylorswift #erastour @Taylor Swift @Biden-Harris HQ ♬ original sound - Human Rights Campaign
Butker is a fucking moron. Not only is he completely on the wrong side of history here, but he's on a team that just happens to have recently gotten the largest influx of progressive women fans in the history of sports.
— Eric Eilersen (@EricEilersen) May 14, 2024
Take him down, Swifties. https://t.co/r6BecEHe5a pic.twitter.com/RvFpmaI5ka
@twoinvisiblestrings #stitch with @Christiana Nicole anyways Chiefs looks its time to make some cuts, cant wait for Tree Paine to handle this one #taylorswift #swifties #swifttok #chiefs #harrisonbutker #chiefsnation #nfl ♬ original sound - twoinvisiblestrings
All the Swifties trying to figure out how to support the Chiefs next season after the toxic/anti women Harrison Butker commencement speech… pic.twitter.com/h1gKvukJ9I
— Taylor Allen (@TaylorAllen_55) May 14, 2024