Pearl Jam recently began their Dark Matter World Tour in support of Dark Matter, an album dubbed by Uproxx’s Steven Hyden to be Pearl Jam’s “best in decades.” Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder did not have such kind words for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who has been under fire since giving a homophobic and sexist commencement speech at Benedictine College on May 11.
“You can see the kicker because he doesn’t have the pads because he doesn’t tackle anybody or get tackled,” Vedder said mid-concert at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas over the weekend. “But, you know, he was telling men, ‘Don’t forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine. Don’t lose your masculinity.’ The irony was that, when he was saying that, he looked like such a f*cking p*ssy.”
That last line earned laughter and loud cheers from the crowd.
Vedder continued, “There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman. Take that! People of quality do not fear equality.”
Eddie Vedder just called out Harrison Butker and called him the ‘P’ word here in Vegas
‘There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman,’ he said.@PearlJam pic.twitter.com/8ABLNW3ON0
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 19, 2024
Eddie Vedder had some words for that loser from the Kansas City Chiefs:
"There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman" pic.twitter.com/xv5hyMD9YK
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) May 19, 2024
As relayed by Variety, Vedder also highlighted Deep See Diver, Pearl Jam’s openers, and noted, “The singer, Jessica, and the keyboard player, Patti, they must not have believed that ‘diabolical lie’ that women should take pride in taking a back seat to their man.”
NFL senior vice president and chief diversity inclusion officer Jonathan Beane released a statement that, in part, emphasized, “[Butker’s] views are not those of the NFL as an organization.” Benedictine College’s affiliated The Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica even posted a statement condemning Butker’s speech.
However, Gracie Hunt, daughter to Chiefs CEO and owner Clark Hunt, support Butker during her appearance on Fox & Friends, as did Tavia Hunt, her mother, on Instagram. Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he loves Butker in response to a Change.org petition calling for the Chiefs to cut Butker from the team.
