Jason Kelce Apologizes For Slamming Fan's Phone Over Calling ...

5 Nov 2024

Forbes

Topline

Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce apologized on Monday for slamming a football fan’s phone into the ground over the weekend, after the fan called his brother a homophobic slur for his relationship with Taylor Swift.

The former Philadelphia Eagles center was in State College, Pennsylvania, to appear on "College ... [+] GameDay."

In a video circulating on social media on Saturday, Kelce is seen walking in State College, Pennsylvania, while a fan can be heard saying, “Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is a f——t for dating Taylor Swift?” using a homophobic slur.

Kelce—who also appeared to be heckled by other fans—then took the fan’s phone before smashing it into the ground and repeating the slur, “who’s the f——t now?”

On Monday, Kelce apologized for the incident and said he “chose to greet hate with hate” and “fell down to a level I shouldn’t have.”

Kelce, 36, was in State College to appear on ESPN’s “College GameDay” to promote Penn State’s home football game against Ohio State University.

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Key Background

Dating rumors surrounding Travis Kelce and Swift appeared to be confirmed in September 2023, when Swift appeared at a Kansas City Chiefs football game. Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Chiefs, said months earlier on his and Jason Kelce’s podcast “New Heights” that he made a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it to give to Swift after an Eras Tour performance. Travis Kelce and Swift have since been seen on dates around the world, while Swift has been spotted at several other Chiefs games, including the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and Travis has been seen at her overseas Eras Tours shows. Swift has received backlash from Republicans since endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in September, including from former President Donald Trump, who posted: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.” Trump went on to say he was not a fan of Swift, whom he said “seems to always endorse a Democrat and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.”

Big Number

$100 million. That’s the value of a three-year agreement Travis and Jason Kelce signed to have their “New Heights” podcast distributed by Amazon’s Wondery. The deal makes the podcast ad-free to all Wondery+ subscribers, thought it will also still be available on all podcast services and YouTube. “New Heights,” which the Kelce brothers launched in 2022, was the fourth-biggest podcast in the U.S. across all platforms for the first quarter of 2024, according to Edison Research. It later fell to No. 14 in the second quarter after football season concluded.