Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker slams Serena Williams' ESPYs joke

Publish date: 2024-05-28

Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker is not impressed with Serena Williams' ESPYs joke at his expense.

On Thursday July 11, Serena, her sister Venus and actress Quinta Brunson took to the stage to share their tips on how to properly enjoy all sports, insisting you can root for both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, before Venus added: "So go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sport." 

"Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you," added Serena as Brunson deadpanned: "At all. Like, ever." 

Watch Serena Williams tell Harrison Butker womens' sports 'don't want him' at ESPYs 2024

In response, the Chiefs kicker has given a statement to NBC Sports, in which he called Serena a "great host" but claimed she used it as an opportunity to "disinvite those with whom she disagrees from supporting fellow athletes".

"I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics," the sports star said. 

“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,” he continued. "She used it as an opportunity to disinvite those with whom she disagrees with from supporting fellow athletes."

In May, Harrison found himself at the center of controversy when a commencement speech he gave at Benedictine College in Kansas went viral for sexist, homophobic, and antisemitic rhetoric. 

In his speech, he called homosexuality a "deadly sin," and suggested that reproductive rights such as abortion, IVF and surrogacy "all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder". 

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He also claimed that women's lives hold more meaning when they become mothers, ignoring the reality that women simply want the right to choose their own lifestyle, be that stay-at-home mom or a businesswoman; Harrison's mom, Elizabeth Butker, is a clinical medical physicist who works for the department of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. 

The speech went viral and drew ire around the globe, particularly as he quoted a Taylor Swift song but didn't credit her, instead calling her "my teammate's girlfriend".

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