Harrison Butker Reacts After Serena Williams Mocks Him at ESPY Awards

Harrison Butker has responded following Serena Williams’s mockery of his controversial views at the 2024 ESPY Awards.

The 28-year-old NFL star became a subject of humor when the 42-year-old tennis champion hosted ESPN’s annual awards show on July 11. The ESPYs celebrate individual and team athletic achievements and other significant sports-related performances over the past year. During her monologue, Williams brought out her older sister, Venus Williams, and Abbott Elementary actor Quinta Brunson to celebrate successful female athletes in the United States.

“Go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports,” Venus said, to which her sister added, “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”

Brunson agreed with the Williams sisters, stating, “At all. Like, ever.”

The remark generated applause from the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Kansas City Chiefs kicker was also present. Although the ceremony’s broadcast did not capture Butker’s reaction, he had walked the red carpet earlier.

Butker has now 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 from supporting fellow athletes.”

Butker sparked widespread backlash in May after delivering a controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. During his speech, he criticized President Joe Biden for his faith, attacked LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and suggested that women should prioritize motherhood over their careers.

Addressing the female graduates in Benedictine College’s class of 2024, Butker claimed they were told “diabolical lies” about their roles in society. He encouraged these graduates to avoid pursuing a career, stating 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 asserted.

The Chiefs star also told the graduates that “abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media” were byproducts of “the pervasiveness of disorder.” He alleged that Biden promoted 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 he didn’t agree with Butker’s 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.”

Meanwhile, 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 reiterated 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.”

He continued to stand by his speech, citing his religious beliefs as the foundation for his remarks. “Our love for Jesus, and thus, our desire to speak out, should never be outweighed by the longing of our fallen nature to be loved by the world,” Butker added. “Glorifying God and not ourselves should always remain our motivation despite any pushback, or even support. I lean on those closest to me for guidance, but I can never forget that it is not people, but Jesus Christ who I’m trying to please.”

Source: NBC Sports, People.