Originally published on E! Online
Serena Williams is slaying at the 2024 ESPY Awards.
The tennis champion didn’t hesitate to take on Harrison Butker as host of the annual Sports Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on July 11. (See the red carpet fashion here.)
While discussing the impressive feats accomplished by female athletes on stage with her sister Venus Williams and presenter Quinta Brunson, she took a dig at the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, who recently faced strong criticism for controversial comments he made about women in a Benedictine College convocation speech.
Venus told the audience, “Enjoy women’s sports, they’re just like any other sport”, to which Serena replied, “Except for you, Harrison Butker.”
“We don’t need you,” he added.
Butkar was also present at the ceremony. However, his reaction could not be captured on camera.
But the tirades didn’t stop there. Venus waved her fingers in the air to show her agreement, to which Quinta replied with a deadpan, “Absolutely. Like, never.”
Serena isn’t the only celebrity to speak out following Butker’s eyebrow-raising comments, which included suggesting to female graduates that they are “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
In May, Maria Shriver questioned “What was Harrison Butker trying to tell women about their current life choices in his graduation speech?”
“Did he really want them, that is us, to believe that our lives truly begin when we take up the profession of wife and mother?” written on xFormerly known as Twitter, “Look, everyone in our country has the right to freedom of speech. That’s the benefit of living in a democracy. But those of us who are women and have a loud voice have the right to disagree with Butker.”
Meanwhile, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that “he said some things I don’t agree with.”
“But I understand his personality, and he’s trying his best to steer people in the right direction,” he said.
