Serena Williams gave Harrison Butker a piece of her mind at the 2024 ESPY Awards.
Williams, the host of Thursday night’s ceremony, took aim at the Kansas City Chiefs kicker while speaking on the subject of women’s sports. During the segment, Williams was joined on stage by her sister Venus Williams and Emmy-winning actor Quinta Brunson.
Venus Williams was wrapping up their remarks by telling the crowd to “go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports.”
“Except you, Harrison Butker,” Serena Williams interjected. “We don’t need you.” “Like, ever,” Brunson added. Despite Butker being in attendance, the camera did not cut away for a reaction shot.
Williams’ remark likely comes in response to Butker’s controversial comments during a commencement speech at Benedictine College in May, during which he suggested that “most” of the female graduates were more excited about getting married and having children than pursuing a career.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said during his speech. “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. I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
During the same speech, Butker criticized President Joe Biden and COVID lockdown policies and suggested that “abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia” (among other things) were the result of “the pervasiveness of disorder.”
Despite backlash, Butker has since reiterated his stance. Several members of the Kansas City Chiefs also defended Butker’s character, even though some indicated they did not agree with his views.
Thursday night’s three-hour ESPY Awards otherwise celebrated the achievements of the past year’s most notable athletes, including Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark, Shohei Ohtani and Steve Gleason. Prince Harry was also presented with the Pat Tillman Award for Service despite Tillman’s own mother criticizing ESPN for choosing Harry as the honoree.
The ceremony had plenty of lighter moments as well, especially during Williams’ opening monologue, in which she took playful jabs at athletes, including Clark, LeBron James and Butker’s teammate Travis Kelce.
“Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs,” she said, before explaining how “Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend won a Super Bowl.”
