Topics: Celebrity, Sport, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, US News
Jason Kelce has issued a public apology for 'greeting hate with hate' during a heated bust-up with a fan at the weekend - an encounter which was caught on camera.
The American football star made his statement during a live appearance on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown yesterday (5 November), admitting that he had broken his 'golden rule' for life.
The clip in question was filmed by onlookers attending a college football game at Penn State on Saturday (2 November).
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It began with Jason - who shares three daughters with wife Kylie - walking away from the stadium following the game, where he was followed by a pack of people.
One member of the crowd was seen holding his phone up to the NFL star, before a voice could be heard saying: "Hey, Kelce! How does it feel your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?"
Jason is the older brother of 35-year-old Travis Kelce, who went public with his relationship with 'Anti-Hero' singer Swift in September last year.
In the controversial clip, Jason could be seen responding to the hateful comment by grabbing the phone, slamming it to the ground and demanding: "Who's the f****t now?"
It's not clear if the person whose phone was smashed was the same person who shouted the slur.
Addressing the altercation - which has since gone viral online, with many fans criticising the sportsman's repetition of the phrase - the 37-year-old shared an apology while on live television on Monday.
"I think everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week," Jason began. "I’m not happy with anything that took place.
"I’m not proud of it. In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing."
He went on: "That leads to discourse and it's - the right way to go about things. I fell down to a level that I shouldn't have.
"So, the bottom line is, I want to live my life by the golden rule - what I've always been taught: treat people with common decency, respect, and I'm going to keep doing that moving forward.
"Even though this has passed - I'm going to do that moving forward and continue to do so."
Despite Jason repeating the remark, fans have since praised the star for jumping to his brother's defence.
Jason Kelce addressed the Penn State phone-smashing incident at the start of ESPN's pregame show tonight and apologized:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 4, 2024
"In a heated moment, I decided to greet hate with hate. ... I fell short this week" pic.twitter.com/884LtqvFzX
"Good for Jason, even though 99.9% of people are on his side lol," one penned on social media in response to his apology.
Another wrote: "Jason Kelce having to apologize for what he did is insane".
Someone else added: "He was the bigger man in the moment and he's the bigger man now."
