Harrison Butker responds to Serena Williams’ ESPYs dig: ‘Sports are supposed to be the great unifier’

Serena Williams went after Harrison Butker at the ESPYs. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/FilmMagic)

Harrison Butker apparently didn’t enjoy watching Serena Williams joke that he wasn’t welcome in the world of women’s sports.

A day after the tennis legend roasted him onstage alongside her sister Venus and “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker issued a statement to NBC News complaining about the joke:

“I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics.”

He added: “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 was in attendance at the event, but was not shown on camera after Williams made her dig. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was also there and accepted the Best NFL Player award on behalf of Patrick Mahomes.

The line about Butker came during a segment in which the Williams sisters and Brunson gave a tongue-in-cheek seminar on how to enjoy women’s sports. Butker wasn’t the only person to be the butt of a joke — the trio subtly called out ESPN’s Pat McAfee for calling Caitlin Clark a “white bitch from Indiana” and Williams made a crack about how winning a Grand Slam while pregnant is more impressive than if LeBron James won an NBA championship with his son Bronny.

The Butker line, however, was the most direct. It came at the end of the segment when Venus was explaining how everyone should get into women’s sports, to which Serena said “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”

Brunson added “At all. Like, ever,” while the crowd broke into laughter and applause.

“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…

Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/harrison-butker-responds-to-serena-williams-espys-dig-sports-are-supposed-to-be-the-great-unifier-002101614.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-13 00:21:01

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.