Kylie Kelce said that Harrison Butker is “entitled” to his own opinion while addressing his controversial and sexist commencement speech in a new interview.
During a discussion with Cheddar News on Thursday, the wife of NFL star Jason Kelce was specifically asked about Butker telling Benedictine College graduates, “The majority of you are most excited about your marriage, and the children you will bring into this world.”
“I hope that if anyone does not align with those views in that graduating class, that they know that they just achieved something,” Kylie, 32, told the network.
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Kylie stressed that the students earning their diploma is something that “no one can take away” from them, despite the speech making headlines and overtaking the celebration.
“Their education will stick with them for the rest of their lives and I hope that they were appropriately celebrated if that was not their view,” she said.
However, the mother of three said that the graduates who do want to be homemakers should be empowered to do so.
“If it was [their view], and they’re looking forward to making a family and being a stay-at-home mom then more power to them,” she said. “I think that as women, we should support each other in our choices and making sure we feel as though we can do whatever we would like to do.”
She concluded, “So hopefully, those graduating women know that, at the very least, I’m proud of them and hope that they go on to do whatever it is that makes their heart happy.”
Kylie — who works for the Eagles Autism Foundation — and the former Philadelphia Eagles center got married in 2018 and have three kids: Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and 1-year-old Bennett.
Jason, 36, previously shared on his “New Heights” podcast that Kylie was “frustrated” by Butker’s message.
Last month, Butker received backlash for his May 11 address to the graduating class of 2024 at the school in Atchison, Kan.
During his speech, he bashed women with careers, Pride Month and abortion, causing an uprise of anger on social media and across communities.
The Kansas City Chiefs kicker, 28, was widely condemned for telling the women in the crowd that their “most important title” in life should be “homemaker.”
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” he said.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
The NFL player’s mom, Elizabeth Keller Butker, is notably an accomplished physicist.
Butker went on to tell the male graduates to be “unapologetic in [their] masculinity” and “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
The NFL, GLAAD, the wife of a former Chiefs player and several Swifties slammed Butker’s words. He has yet to address the controversy himself.
