Back in May, Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker gave the commencement address at Benedictine College’s graduation. Butker’s speech was awful – he called IVF, surrogacy and abortion part and parcel of “degenerative cultural values” stemming from the “pervasiveness of disorder.” He told all of the female graduates that they’ve been fed “diabolical lies” about careers and living independent lives, and that they should all immediately get married and start having babies. What should have been a celebration of and for the graduating class of 2024 turned into a Christofascist lecture from an incel-adjacent numbnut.
Well, Harrison Butker attended the ESPYs last week, even though it was hosted by Serena Williams, a woman who prioritized her career over marriage and babies until she was well into her 30s. He attended the ESPYs even though the achievements of female athletes were being celebrated alongside the achievements of male athletes. Jesus wept, as did Harrison Butker. But the hardest part of Butker’s night was when Serena, Venus Williams and Quinta Brunson stood on stage and clowned on him:
“So, go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports.” – Venus Williams
“Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.” – Serena Williams
“At all. Like, ever.” – Quinta Brunson #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/RhvxfiHUWN
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 12, 2024
It was great. I loved the reaction from the audience, and it’s even sweeter knowing that Butker was in the room when they said this. Well, on Friday, Harrison Butker released a statement about that part. He is very upset about what the Black women said about him! Why were they even allowed to speak? Don’t they have to wait for their husbands to give them permission to open their mouths? (Wait until he finds out that Venus isn’t even married!) This was the dumbass statement Butker gave 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 said, via NBCNews.com. “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’s attempted pivot to victim isn’t as adroit as he had hoped, even without the extra “with.” He disinvited himself. Serena Williams and Quinta Brunson were merely acknowledging it. Looking at it more broadly, Butker didn’t use the situation as an opportunity to explain that his words from May were in some way misunderstood or misinterpreted. His acknowledgment that Serena Williams is someone “with whom she disagrees with” tends to confirm that he said what he meant and he meant what he said.
That was NBC Sports editorializing and basically calling Butker a whiny little turd. “She used it as an opportunity to disinvite those with whom she disagrees with from supporting fellow athletes.” Serena told a misogynist that women athletes don’t need his attention, time or support. It was an excellent clapback by Serena for all of the dumb and divisive sh-t Butker said in his commencement address. “Sports are supposed to be the great unifier.” Graduation ceremonies are also supposed to be a unifying experience, but Harrison Butker chose to use his platform to denigrate the young female graduates and their professional and personal aspirations. (Sidenote: Serena is tight with Taylor Swift, who is dating Butker’s Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce… this could get even messier.)
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.