Police issue statement on Jason Kelce phone-smash incident after disgusting Taylor Swift and Travis comment
Police have issued a statement a month on from Jason Kelce's phone-smashing incident following on from a homophobic comment made about brother Travis' relationship with Taylor Swift.
In November, the elder Kelce brother outside the Beaver Stadium, in University Park, Pennsylvania, while working for ESPN as part of their College GameDay coverage.
A video emerged online of Kelce, carrying a case of beer, responding to a disgusting slur made by an individual outside the stadium.
After a fan said to him, “Kelce how does it feel that your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”, the 37-year-old turned around and upon noticing who had made the comment, proceeding to snatch the fan's phone and slammed it to the ground.
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Kelce repeated the slur used after smashing the phone, saying, "Who’s the f****t now?".
Penn State University Police and Public Safety swiftly opened an investigation the incident but it appears as though the matter is now closed, as per TMZ.
The news outlet contacted a spokesperson for the police, who confirmed: "The individual in the video footage circulating on social media has not been identified, and no one has come forward to University Police with a related complaint about damage to personal property."
Kelce addressed the incident on ESPN's Monday Night Football coverage for his brother's Kansas City Chiefs against Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earning praise for his measured response.
"Everybody has seen what happened," Kelce said.
"I'm not happy with anything that took place, not proud of it. A heated moment to greet hate with hate and I don't think that's a productive thing, I really don't. I don't think it's the right way to go about things.
"In that moment I fell down to a level I shouldn't have. The bottom line is I try to live my life by the golden rule, I've always been taught to treat people with common decency and I'm going to try and keep doing that moving forward. Even though I fell short this week."
On the New Heights' podcast he hosts alongside Travis, the Philadelphia Eagles legend expressed further regret at what happened and how he repeated the homophobic slur as a response.
He stated: "The thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you. That word he used, it's just f****ing ridiculous, it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f***king over the line. As a human it got under my skin. And it elicited a reaction and in the heat of the moment.
"I thought, ‘What can I say back to him? I’m gonna throw that s**t right back in his face because f**k him.’ I know now I shouldn’t have done that because now there is a video out there with me saying that word, him saying that word and it’s not good for anybody. I think what I do regret is that now there is a video that is very hateful that is now online that has been seen by millions of people and I share fault in perpetuating it and having it out there.”
Travis defended his brother and told him that by "owning it and speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people on this world".
As reported by the Daily Mail, Swift was appalled by the homophobic comments and also stood by Jason's actions.
Topics: Travis Kelce, NFL
Josh Lawless