Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community which some readers may find distressing.
Travis Kelce has broken his silence after a 'f**king clown' called him a homophobic slur and prompted a seriously aggressive reaction from his brother, Jason.
Clips of Jason during a college football game at Penn State on Saturday (2 November) shows him walking away from the stadium following the game, where he was followed by a group of people.
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One member of the crowd could be seen holding his phone up to the former Philadelphia Eagles center before a voice could be heard saying: "Hey, Kelce! How does it feel your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?"
Jason - who shares three daughters with wife Kylie - responded to the extremely homophobic remark by grabbing the phone, slamming it to the ground and demanding: "Who's the f****t now?"
It's not clear if the person whose phone was smashed was the same person who shouted the slur.
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Jason has since addressed his behaviour on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown, where he said: "I think everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week. I’m not happy with anything that took place.
"I’m not proud of it. In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing."
He went on: "That leads to discourse and it's - the right way to go about things. I fell down to a level that I shouldn't have.
"So, the bottom line is, I want to live my life by the golden rule - what I've always been taught: treat people with common decency, respect, and I'm going to keep doing that moving forward.
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"Even though this has passed - I'm going to do that moving forward and continue to do so."
Speaking in a recent episode of the New Heights podcast, Jason added: "Now it’s out there and it just perpetuates more hate. The thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you.
"That word he used, its just f**king ridiculous, it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f**king over the line. As a human it got under my skin. And it elicited a reaction and in the heat of the moment."
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Travis has now also addressed his brother's comments in the podcast, which he does alongside the Kansas City Chiefs star.
"I know it’s weighing on you brother," Travis said. "That sh*t sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much - obviously the scrutiny and media view on it and everybody passing around the videos out there.
"That’s gonna make it a bigger situation than what I think what it really is."
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The NFL quarterback continued: "But the real situation is you had some f**king clown come up to you and talk about your family and you reacted in a way that was defending your family and you might’ve used some words that you regret using and that’s you just gotta kind of learn from and own and I think you owning it and speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people on this world and it shows what you said on Monday night.
"You don’t choose that. That’s just not who you are. I love you brother and I think you said that perfectly."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Topics: Travis Kelce, Celebrity, Taylor Swift, LGBTQ+
Rhiannon Ingle