Serena Williams was serving up jabs in Harrison Butker’s direction at this year’s ESPYS.
The retired tennis legend, who hosted the annual ESPN sports award show on July 11, took a shot at controversial comments about women made by the Kansas City Chiefs kicker during a college commencement speech in May.
Williams and her older sister Venus Williams were onstage with “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson during a segment highlighting women’s sports.
“So, go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports,” Venus Williams said during the broadcast.
“Except you, Harrison Butker,” Serena Williams replied. “We don’t need you.”
“At all. Like, ever,” Brunson chimed in.
The sports media news website Awful Announcing shared a clip of the moment on X, where it has received more than 70,000 likes.
Serena Williams’ comment, which was met with applause and some scattered boos, was made with Butker in attendance. He was photographed on the red carpet as he supported the Chiefs, who were nominated for best team, and teammate Patrick Mahomes, who was nominated for best NFL player and best athlete in men’s sports.
Butker drew backlash in May for his 20-minute speech at Benedictine College in Kansas.
During his speech, Butker particularly addressed the female graduates in the audience, saying they had been told “diabolical lies.” He said they should be more excited about marriage and children than embarking on their careers, using his wife, Isabelle, as an example.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said.
“Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, ‘Heck, no,'” he said later in the speech.
He also said the male graduates should be “unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men.”
The speech had women responding with insults, jokes and sarcasm at Butker’s view of restrictive gender roles. The rival Los Angeles Chargers also lampooned Butker with animation of him in the kitchen in a video releasing the team’s 2024 schedule. A group of nuns associated with Benedictine College also denounced the comments.