Jason Kelce ‘Regrets’ Reacting to Football Fan Who Called Brother Travis Homophobic Slur: ‘Got Under My Skin’
“Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety,” Jason said on the brothers’ ‘New Heights’ podcast on Wednesday, Nov. 6
Jason Kelce is speaking out about the moment he smashed a Penn State football fan’s phone for calling his brother, Travis Kelce, a homophobic slur.
In now-viral footage shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, the retired Philadelphia Eagles star, 37 — who was outside of Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game — reacted after the man called Travis “a f—– dating Taylor Swift.”
On the latest episode of the brothers’ New Heights podcast which aired on Wednesday, Nov. 6, Jason expressed regret at also saying the word after he was seen standing in front of the man and saying, “Who’s the f—– now?” in the viral clips.
Travis began on the podcast, “I know you wanted to clear some of the air, so go ahead,” as Jason responded, “I’m just gonna address it, I feel like it needs one more time and then hopefully we can stop talking about this really stupid situation.”
The father of three — who first addressed the incident on Nov. 4 on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown — added, “I’m not happy about the situation, me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That’s what I regret. It didn’t deserve attention, it’s really stupid… if I just keep walking, it’s a f—— nothingburger, nobody sees it. Now, it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate.”
Jason insisted the “thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you… the word he used it’s just f—— ridiculous and it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f—— over the line.”
“It’s dehumanizing and it got under my skin, it elicited a reaction. In the heat of the moment, I thought ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m going to throw this s— right back in his face. F— him,’ ” the athlete said, admitting he knows now that he “shouldn’t have done that.”
“What I do regret, is now there’s a video that is very hateful, that is now online that has been seen by millions of people and I share fault in perpetuating it and having that out there,” Jason told listeners.
