NFL star and brother of Taylor Swift backup dancer Khalen Saunders defends Jason Kelce over phone smash
New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Khalen Saunders has spoken out on Jason Kelce’s furious altercation with a Penn State fan over the weekend.
While Kelce was walking through a crowd before the school’s game against rivals Ohio State, one man called his brother – Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce – a f****t for dating Taylor Swift.
Jason responded by grabbing the fan’s phone, smashing it on the ground, kicking it away from the fan and yelling back, ‘Who’s the f****t now?, leading to a police investigation which is still ongoing.
Saunders, who is a former Chiefs teammate of Travis and brother of Swift’s Eras Tour backup dancer Kameron, defended the Philadelphia Eagles legend on social media.
‘My brother! I’ve dealt with this problem for years & years. You do NOT need to apologize for defending your brother in any circumstance,’ Saunders wrote.
Saints star Khalen Saunders has spoken out on Jason Kelce’s altercation with a Penn State fan
Jason Kelce reacted angrily to a fan calling his brother Travis a ‘f*****’ at Penn State’s game
‘You are genuinely one of the greatest men in this world. And that lame mf didn’t need a phone anymore anyway. & Happy bday Champ.’
Saunders and Travis won two Super Bowls together with the Chiefs in 2020 and 2023.
Meanwhile, Travis joined Kameron Saunders and Swift on stage on June 23 during one of the ‘Eras Tour’ shows at Wembley Stadium as a fellow back-up dancer.
Kameron has gone viral on social media several times during the ‘Eras Tour’ for his improvised phrases during the songstress’s performance of her 2012 hit ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.’
Jason briefly addressed the incident on ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Countdown’ after videos of him smashing the fan’s phone following the homophobic slur went viral.
‘Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place,’ he said. ‘I’m not proud of it, and in a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing. I really don’t. I don’t think it leads to discourse, and it’s the right way to go about things. That moment I fell down to a moment I shouldn’t have.’
Saunders defended the Philadelphia Eagles legend over the incident on social media
Saunders is the brother of Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ backup dancer Kameron Saunders
Kelce has issued an on-air apology on ESPN, but will reportedly face no further punishment
‘So, I think the bottom line is I try to live my life by the golden rule — it’s what I’ve always been taught. I try to treat people with common decency and respect, and I’m going to keep doing that moving forward, even though I fell short this week. I’m going to do that moving forward and continue to do that.’
Jason went into further detail during Wednesday’s edition of ‘New Heights’ – the podcast he co-hosts with Travis – admitting that, while the fan’s ‘dehumanizing’ use of the slur got under his skin, he shouldn’t have reacted.
Travis also weighed in with his own thoughts and backed up his brother while hitting out at the fan.
The Kansas City Chiefs star said: ‘I know it’s weighing on you brother. It sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much, obviously the scrutiny and the media view on it and people passing around the videos that are out there.
‘That’s going to make it a bigger situation than, I think, what it really is.
‘The real situation is that you had some f***ing clown come up to you and talk about your family. You reacted in a way that was defending your family and you might have used some words that you regret using.
The Eagles legend was defending his brother and his relationship with Taylor Swift
‘That’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own and I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to people in this world and shows what you said on Monday night.
‘You don’t choose hate. That’s just not who you are. I love you brother. I think you said that perfectly.’
Campus police are actively investigating the incident, after an initial statement read that no report had been filed .
ESPN also decided not to punish Kelce for his words , especially after he offered an on-air apology.
