Katy Perry posted a heavily edited version of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech on Instagram to celebrate Pride Month in the United States. Photos / AP
Katy Perry posted a heavily edited version of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech on Instagram to celebrate Pride Month in the United States. Photos / AP
Katy Perry has started celebrating Pride Month in America by posting an edited video of Harrison Butker’s contentious commencement speech last month that was criticised for its “misogyny” and “homophobia”.
The speech included themes that many have deemed misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ+.
Butker suggested that while some graduating women would carry on to have successful careers, most of them would achieve that success by being a “wife and mother”, saying they should be “excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world”. He also rebuked “the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it”.
Butker blamed United States President Joe Biden for “bad policies and poor leadership” that have contributed to a “pervasiveness of disorder”, using the increasing adoption of abortion, IVF, and surrogacy as examples for his concern.
June 1 marks the first day of Pride Month in the United States, and to celebrate the occasion, 39-year-old Perry took to Instagram to share a version she’d made of Butker’s speech to Benedictine graduates.
NFL star and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker gave a widely criticised commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas. Photo / Benedictine College YouTube
The California Gurls singer heavily edited what he said and when he said it, changing the entire meaning of his speech.
The finished product has made it sound like the football star was speaking in support of the groups he was earlier criticising.
“Fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays - you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride,” Perry wrote in the caption.
In the edited video posted by Perry, Butker starts by praising the women in the audience.
“For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives,” Butker, 28, seemed to say.
“How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career? I would venture to guess the women here today are going to lead successful careers in the world.
“I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand, how much happier someone can be supporting women and not saying that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring in to this world,” Butker continued in Perry’s edited version.
“The road ahead is bright, things are changing, society is shifting and people young and old are embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he said. “With that said, I want to say happy Pride Month to you all. And congratulations class of 2024.”
Katy Perry in April 2024 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Photo / AP
Butker originally had said: “Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light ... I’m certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn’t be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride, not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is co-operating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him.”
With significant backlash following Butker’s controversial speech, the NFL’s chief diversity officer Jonathan Beane said: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organisation. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
