Current:Home > InvestJason Kelce apologizes for phone incident, Travis Kelce offers support on podcast -AssetVision
Jason Kelce apologizes for phone incident, Travis Kelce offers support on podcast
View
Date:2025-04-18 06:12:57
Former All-Pro center Jason Kelce on Wednesday used his popular podcast to express his regret for an altercation over the weekend on the campus of Penn State.
In an incident that was caught on video, Kelce responded to a heckler calling his brother Travis a homophobic slur by grabbing the heckler's phone and slamming it on the ground.
On the latest episode of their "New Heights" podcast, Jason called it "a really stupid situation" that quickly got out of hand.
"Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety," he said. "I know now that I shouldn't have done it because now there's a video out there with me saying that word, him saying that word and it's not good for anybody."
Kelce was in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for ESPN's "College GameDay" and was interacting with fans when one used a homophobic slur in reference to his brother dating Taylor Swift.
Penn State University Police and Public Safety is investigating the incident.
Kelce admitted his actions went "over the line" as he grabbed the fan's phone and spiked it on the ground. On the video, Kelce could be heard saying, "Who's the (expletive) now?"
He said repeating the slur was a mistake because "it just perpetuates more hate."
On the podcast, brother Travis struck an understanding tone.
"You reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might’ve used some words that you regret using," he said. "And that’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own. I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world. … You don’t choose hate, that’s just not who you are. I love you brother, I think you said that perfectly."
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- The attack on Brazil's Congress was stoked by social media — and by Trump allies
- These Drugstore Blushes Work Just as Well as Pricier Brands
- How to keep your New Year's resolutions (Encore)
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- What Has Trump Done to Alaska? Not as Much as He Wanted To
- A Black 'Wall Street Journal' reporter was detained while working outside a bank
- After holiday week marred by mass shootings, Congress faces demands to rekindle efforts to reduce gun violence
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Q&A: The Sierra Club Embraces Environmental Justice, Forcing a Difficult Internal Reckoning
Ranking
- Average rate on 30
- Listener Questions: Airline tickets, grocery pricing and the Fed
- Q&A: Why Women Leading the Climate Movement are Underappreciated and Sometimes Invisible
- Judge rejects Justice Department's request to pause order limiting Biden administration's contact with social media companies
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- The economics lessons in kids' books
- Trump’s EPA Claimed ‘Success’ in Superfund Cleanups—But Climate Change Dangers Went Unaddressed
- From East to West On Election Eve, Climate Change—and its Encroaching Peril—Are On Americans’ Minds
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
A Sprawling Superfund Site Has Contaminated Lavaca Bay. Now, It’s Threatened by Climate Change
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud and other charges tied to FTX's collapse
At One of America’s Most Toxic Superfund Sites, Climate Change Imperils More Than Cleanup
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
Intense cold strained, but didn't break, the U.S. electric grid. That was lucky
How Maryland’s Preference for Burning Trash Galvanized Environmental Activists in Baltimore
Gavin Rossdale Reveals Why He and Ex Gwen Stefani Don't Co-Parent Their 3 Kids