Serena Williams threw some shade at Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in a bit onstage at the 2024 ESPYs on Thursday night.
The retired tennis legend, who hosted the award ceremony, appeared onstage at one point alongside her sister, tennis icon Venus Williams and “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson.
The trio were discussing the importance of supporting women’s sports, when Serena Williams switched gears and took aim at the controversial NFL player.
“So go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports,” Venus Williams said before her younger sister interjected.
“Except you, Harrison Butker, we don’t need you,” Serena Williams quipped.
“At all, like ever,” Brunson chimed in.
Although the camera did not pan to Butker at that exact moment, he was photographed on the ESPYs red carpet and seated in the crowd at the ceremony during the night.
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images
Butker received wide backlash after he expressed bigoted views during his commencement address at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Kansas, in May.
During his arch-conservative graduation speech, the Chiefs kicker made a reference to LGBTQ+ Pride as an example of a “deadly sin” and decried “dangerous gender ideologies,” and the “tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
He also said that being a homemaker is, for women, “one of the most important titles of all,” suggesting that his wife Isabelle Butker’s life “truly started” when she became a wife and mother.
The NFL released a statement shortly after Butker’s speech, distancing itself from his views, stating that they did not represent those of the organization.
Butker has since doubled down on his commencement speech.
During an appearance at a gala event in Nashville, Tennessee weeks after his address, he said: “As to be expected, the more I’ve talked about what I value most — which is my Catholic faith — the more polarizing I’ve become.”
“It’s a decision I’ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all,” he continued.
