Rapper Flavor Flav called out Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker after Butker gave a problematic graduation speech criticizing working women, reproductive rights, and surrogacy at the ultra-conservative Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Butker, who urged male graduates to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men," claimed that "abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerative cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder."
Addressing women graduates directly, he added:
"For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you."
"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."
Butker also claimed that he is "beyond blessed" because his wife Isabelle "would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: Homemaker.” He said her "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, 'Hey, no.'"
Flavor Flav recently went viral for his offer to fund the entire Women's Olympic Water Polo Team as they travel to Paris this summer. His reason: because he's a self-proclaimed "girl dad" and supporter of women's sports.
So perhaps it should come as little surprise that Flav would respond to Butker's misogyny with a pointed message on X:
"Sounds like some players 'need to stay in their lanes' and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches."
You can see his post below.
Many appreciated Flavor Flav for speaking out and joined him in criticizing Butker's remarks.
Butker's remarks about women are odd given that his mother is a clinical medical physicist who works in the department of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.
Butker's mother pursued a medical career, drawing inspiration from her father, James Keller, who dedicated almost three decades of his life to Emory's Winship Cancer Institute. Keller's tenure included 13 years in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, followed by another 15 years in the Winship Department of Radiation Oncology, as documented on the institute's website.
Butker has also faced backlash for remarks he made about Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community at large.
The football player denounced Pride—a celebration of solidarity and identity as resistance to discrimination and violence—as "dangerous gender ideologies," further describing it as a commemoration of "deadly sins ... that has an entire month dedicated to it."
He called on graduates to adhere to "the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him."
@IrnaEnglish/X
