Over the weekend, Jason Kelce was involved in an incident that went viral on social media after he was seen using a homophobic slur and smashing the phone of a heckler. But it does not sound like he will be facing punishment.
The incident took place just outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium before Saturday’s game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions, which Jason Kelce attended after appearing on College GameDay earlier that morning.
As Kelce was walking toward the stadium, a fan approached him and criticized his brother’s relationship with pop star Taylor Swift, using a homophobic slur.
“Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is a [homophobic slur] for dating Taylor Swift?” the heckler asked Jason.
Kelce responded by grabbing the heckler’s phone and smashing it onto the ground, then using the slur in return.
“Who’s the [homophobic slur] now?” Kelce said.
Kelce apologized for the incident during an appearance on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown.
“I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it,” Kelce said.
“And in a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing. I really don’t. I don’t think it leads to discourse, and [don’t think] it’s the right way to go about things. In that moment, I fell down to a level that I shouldn’t have. So I think bottom line is, I try to live my life by the golden rule. It’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect, even though I fell short this week. I’m going to do that moving forward and continue to do that.”
Despite the incident, Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that ESPN has chosen not to punish Kelce.
“ESPN is not punishing Kelce, who joined the cast of Monday Night Countdown this season, for slamming a fan’s phone to the ground after the male student used a homophobic slur to instigate the situation. Kelce then used the same slur in his reaction, which was caught on multiple videos that circulated throughout social media,” Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday.
Obviously, the decision not to punish Kelce led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“Good. ESPN getting it right for once,” one fan wrote.
“Leave people alone, Jason keep being that amazing individual! People mad at Jason what about the kid,” another person added.
“ESPN says they will take no action against Jason Kelce for his obvious anger management issues,” another person wrote. “I guess they want to wait until he physically assaults someone. Law suit should be forthcoming.”
“Good for ESPN,” another fan said.
“They should give him an award,” another fan added.
Clearly, this is a largely popular decision from ESPN.
