NBC Sports Boston anchor Trenni Casey has swiftly taken Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker down a peg following his controversial graduation speech.
Butker, 28, drew public ire for the misogynistic comments he made while speaking to graduates at Benedictine College in Kansas on Saturday, May 11. He claimed — among other things — that women are fed “diabolical lies” about their role in society, while pushing the idea of a homemaker being “one of the most important titles of all.” Along the way, he quoted Taylor Swift, who has been dating tight end Travis Kelce since last summer.
“As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘Familiarity breeds contempt,” Butker said, quoting Swift’s song “Bejeweled.”
In response, Casey, 47, called out Butker’s “dehumanizing” comments during a segment of her show on Thursday, May 16. She slammed Butker for referring to Swift, 34, as Kelce’s “girlfriend,” noting that’s “all she is in his mind.”
She added her own Swiftie-ism, saying Butker brings to mind “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” from the singer’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Casey didn’t hold back in her takedown of Butker’s remarks. “The 28-year-old Chiefs kicker spent 20 minutes espousing the greatest hits of bigotry, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia [and] anti-diversity,” she added.
During his speech, Butker ranted about President Joe Biden, the handling of the COVID pandemic and how the “growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.” Butker also compared the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride Month to “deadly sins.”
“I am so tired of people telling us at the center of these dehumanizing rants that we need to respect everyone’s opinion,” the sports commentator continued. “No. We don’t, and we don’t have to tolerate it, either. … You are not allowed to go out of your way and belittle, degrade and depict groups that don’t look like you as subhuman. That’s not an opinion. That is hate. Plain and simple.”
Casey isn’t the only person calling out Butker for his speech. Several celebrities shared their frustration with the athlete, using their platforms to condemn his words.
“Sounds like some players ‘need to stay in their lanes’ and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches,” Flavor Flav — a known fan of Swift — wrote in an X post.
Hoda Kotb warned, “Don’t speak for us,” during the Thursday episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, adding, “I think that’s kind of the thing. Stop speaking for women out there.”
