Jason Kelce is being investigated by police for smashing a fan’s phone on Saturday – with the NFL hero breaking his silence on the shocking moment on ESPN on Monday night.
‘Everybody has seen what happened,’ Kelce, dressed in a gray suit for his TV appearance, said in the opening minutes of the show. ‘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.’
Kelce – who was on campus to appear on ESPN’s College GameDay – was walking through a crowd of people when one man called his brother Travis a ‘f*****’ for dating Taylor Swift.
Kelce responded by grabbing the fan’s phone, slamming it to the ground and shouting back: ‘Who is the f****t now?’
According to TMZ, the probe is ‘ongoing’ with the news of the investigation surfacing minutes before Kelce’s appearance on Monday Night Football for the Chiefs vs Bucs game, featuring his brother Travis. Jason was pictured arriving in a gray suit and red tie at the stadium.
The News Tribune, meanwhile, claims the crime log said an officer observed a ‘visitor damaging personal property’ and that criminal mischief and disorderly conduct are the potential violations.
Penn State police had said on Saturday that no incident report had been filed on the matter, but now it appears that things have since changed.
Kelce, who turns 38 on Tuesday, has been widely supported since the footage went viral on social media.
The Kelce family are otherwise yet to respond publicly to the incident but a source close to Travis and Taylor told DailyMail.Com on Saturday night: ‘Taylor and Travis were both really shocked by this considering Jason is one of the nicest guys in the world.
Jason Kelce addressed the Penn State phone-smashing incident at the start of ESPN’s pregame show tonight and apologized:
“In a heated moment, I decided to greet hate with hate. … I fell short this week” pic.twitter.com/884LtqvFzX
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 4, 2024
‘It really became clear how much he loves and respects Taylor. Travis means the world to him.
‘The use of the word f****t is not okay with him nor anyone. This fan crossed the line. Jason will never stand for anyone insulting his family and he views Taylor as family now.’
The two brothers are extremely close, with their bond – as well as Kelce’s romance with Swift – a key factor in recently landing a $100million deal to produce their New Heights podcast.
Jason retired from football earlier this year after 13 years in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he won on Super Bowl title.
Travis was at the press conference where Jason made the announcement and both brothers wept as the Eagles hero brought the curtain down on his career.
Swift’s relationship with the Chiefs star has sparked an explosion of interest in the Kelce family across the world but they have embraced their newfound fame, and Swift herself, at every turn in the public eye.
Jason has also been to a number of Swift’s Eras Tour shows – both with Travis and his own young family – since her relationship with Travis became public knowledge in September 2023.
‘She’s awesome, a down to earth and genuine person which has been great to see when somebody of that caliber and stardom remains as grounded as she has,’ Jason said back in February.
Speaking in September, Jason admitted he feels caution every time he is asked about his brother’s relationship with Swift due to the high level of interest in them both.
‘Even now, I want to be respectful of them,’ he said on The Pivot Podcast. ‘I don’t want anybody to feel like I’m violating some type of private relationship, right?
‘But he is my brother, and I’m really happy for him. You just have to be conscious of how you’re saying things because he is under such a microscope.’
