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On November 2, Jason Kelce was involved in a controversial incident outside Beaver Stadium at Penn State University. A man approached him with his phone, asking, "Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is a [homophobic slur] for dating Taylor Swift?" Jason, visibly angered, responded by smashing the man's phone, saying, "Who's the [homophobic slur] now?" The event, caught on video, quickly went viral, sparking a wave of online reactions.
In the November 6 episode of his New Heights podcast with brother Travis Kelce, Jason addressed the incident. "I'm just gonna address it," Jason began. "I feel like it needs one more time and then hopefully we can stop talking about this really stupid situation." He expressed regret, saying, "Me reacting gave him the time of day and it also gave the situation notoriety. That's what I regret. It didn't deserve attention; it's really stupid." Reflecting further, he admitted, "If I just keep walking, it's a f--king nothingburger; nobody sees it. Now, it's out there, and it just perpetuates more hate."
Jason admitted that the slur, which he regrettably repeated, had gotten under his skin. "It's dehumanizing, and it elicited a reaction," he shared. "In the heat of the moment, I thought, 'Hey, what can I say back to him? I'm gonna throw this s--t right back into his face.' What I do regret is now there's 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."
Travis showed empathy toward his brother's frustration, reassuring him on the podcast. "The real situation is you had some f--king clown come up to you and talk about your family, and you reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might've used some words that you regret using," Travis said. He urged Jason to use the experience as a lesson, adding, "That's a situation you've just got to learn from and own. I think you owning it and speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world."
Jason had earlier reflected on the incident during ESPN's Monday Night Countdown on November 4. "I'm not happy with anything that took place. I'm not proud of it," he admitted. "In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don't think that's a productive thing." Jason concluded with a commitment to move forward by living "by the golden rule... to treat people with common decency and respect."
