Kylie Kelce is commenting on Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker’s controversial Benedictine College graduation speech that suggested the women graduating should aspire to be stay-at-home moms.
Kylie Kelce is married to former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and the sister-in-law to Butker's teammate Travis Kelce. She said in an interview with Cheddar News on June 13 that she believes everyone is “entitled to their own opinion” but that she hopes the women in the graduating class “know that at the very least, I’m very proud of them.”
What Harrison Butker said about women
In Butker’s speech, which addressed a wide range of of topics, the NFL kicker addressed the women in the graduating class, saying that they had been told “the most diabolical lies.”
He shared that his wife’s life “really started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
“I’ve seen firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will for life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you ask her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say no.”
TODAY.com reached out to Butker for comment after his speech but did not get a response.
Kylie Kelce's message to the female graduates: 'I'm proud of them'
When Kylie Kelce was asked about Butker’s speech, she said that she hopes that "if anyone does not align with those views in that graduating class, that they know that they have just achieved something ... that no one can take away from them.”
She went on to say that they should be proud of their education and hopes the women were “appropriately celebrated” if they did not share Butker’s views.
“And if ... they’re looking forward to making a family and being a stay-at-home mom, then more power to them,” she said. “I think that, as women, we should support each other in our choices and making sure that we feel as though we can do whatever we would like to do.
“So, hopefully those graduating women know that at the very least, I’m very proud of them and hope they go on to do whatever it is that makes their heart happy,” she concluded.
What Jason Kelce has said about Harrison Butker's speech
Kylie and Jason Kelce found themselves the subject of much discussion online following Butker’s comments last month.
Jason Kelce initially responded on the May 24 episode of his podcast, New Heights, that he co-hosts with his brother.
“I’ve had so many people ask me, ‘What would you do if your daughters had to sit there and listen to somebody tell them after they just earned a degree that they should just go to align to be homemakers?’” Jason Kelce said on the podcast. “And I would say if my daughters listen to anybody tell them what to do — that they should be homemakers — then I failed as a dad.”
Later, in a response on X to one user who called Kylie Kelce a homemaker, Jason Kelce answered because he said he’s seen “a number of people” saying it.
“I don’t think of Kylie as a homemaker, I think of her as my wife. I think of her as a mother,” Jason Kelce wrote. “She has an occupation, as do I, and we keep our house the best we can.”
He added that they are raising their children as partners.
“Our marriage is a partnership, we are equals who are figuring it out on the daily,” Jason Kelce continued. “The only expectation is that we love each other, support one another, and are committed to our family, that comes first.”
Like his wife’s recent comments, Jason Kelce said he supports women who identify as a homemaker.
“If being a homemaker works for some, and that’s what they want, then hell yea, that’s awesome, more power to you,” Jason Kelce wrote. “I want to be clear, I’m not downplaying that at all, but that is not our family dynamic.”
In separate interview with TODAY.com, Kylie Kelce noted that she doesn’t think of herself as a homemaker.
“I honestly don’t think about those terms very much at all. I do my best not to define myself by any one term,” Kylie Kelce told TODAY.com.
Kylie and Jason Kelce are parents to Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, 1.
