Travis Kelce is firmly in his brother Jason Kelce’s corner as the latter continues to express regret over his response during a clash with a fan last week.
On the Nov. 6 episode of their “New Heights” podcast, the brothers discussed Jason Kelce’s heated exchange with a college football fan outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium four days earlier.
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The incident, captured on camera phone videos, shows Jason Kelce reacting to a fan who'd insulted his brother's relationship with Taylor Swift with a homophobic slur by grabbing the fan’s phone and slamming it to the ground. In one angle, the retired Philadelphia Eagles center appears to repeat the slur.
“I know you wanted to clear some of the air, so go ahead,” Travis Kelce said at the start of the episode, later adding, “I’m with you, man.”
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Jason Kelce then addressed the incident, expressing regret over his response.
“I’m not happy about the situation. Me reacting gave him the time of day, and it also gave the situation notoriety,” Jason Kelce explained. “That’s what I regret, all right? It didn’t deserve attention. It’s really stupid, and if I just keep walking, it’s a f---ing — it’s a nothing burger. Nobody sees it. Now it’s out there, and it just perpetuates more hate.”
Jason Kelce also expressed disappointment in the language he used.
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“The thing I regret the most is saying that word, to be honest with you. And the word he used — it’s just f---ing ridiculous, it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall and f---ing over the line,” he said.
“In the heat of the moment, I thought in my head, ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m going to throw that s--- right back in his face,’” he told his brother.
“I know now that I shouldn’t have done that, because now there’s a video out there with me saying that word, him saying that word, and it’s not good for anybody,” he added. “I think what I do regret is that 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 and having that out there.”
“I know it’s weighing on you, brother,” Travis Kelce replied. “That s--- sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much, obviously, the scrutiny.”
“The real situation is you had some f---ing clown come up to you and talk about your family,” Travis Kelce added. “And you reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might have used some words that you regret using, and that’s a situation that you just got to kind of learn from and own. And I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world.”
Travis Kelce touched on his brother’s remarks from the “Monday Night Football” pregame show earlier this week, when Jason Kelce said, “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing.”
Referencing his brother’s apology, Travis Kelce said, “Especially what you said on Monday night. … You don’t choose hate. That’s just not who you are.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
