Everybody Loves Raymond actress Patricia Heaton weighed in on Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's pro-Christian commencement speech at a Catholic college last week.
Butker's speech at Benedictine College criticized President Joe Biden, the LGBTQ community, and encouraged graduating women to embrace their role as a "homemaker." Along with intense backlash to his speech, a Change.org petition was created calling for Butker's dismissal from the Kansas City Chiefs citing his remarks at Benedictine College as "sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist." The petition has garnered just under 220,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
On Saturday, Heaton, a Catholic, shared a video to her social media accounts defending the Kansas City Chiefs kicker.
“I don’t understand why everybody’s knickers are in a twist. He gave a commencement speech,” Heaton said. “The audience applauded twice during the speech and gave him a standing ovation at the end, so clearly they enjoyed what he was saying.” Everybody just calm down! pic.twitter.com/Sfk0IdcSCy
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) May 18, 2024
“The guy is espousing his own opinions and Catholic doctrine, um, so what? It’s his opinion. He can have one. He’s allowed. He’s not a monster for stating what he believes," she continued. "He went after bishops much more than he went after women, or what women’s choices are or what he thinks they should be, so I don’t understand.”
The actress went on to cite her own Catholic faith, noting she worked as she raised her children.
"I believe that God opened those doors for me. And thankfully, it was a schedule that allowed me to also be a full-time mom basically," Heaton said. "I find nothing offensive about what he said, even though my life is very different, and he might even look at my life and say that’s not the way it should be. That’s OK. That’s his opinion."
Heaton said she was confused why people found Butker's remarks to Catholic students offensive.
"If you have made choices in your life, and you feel those are the right choices, and you’re comfortable, and they’re working out for you and your family – great," she concluded. "And if they’re different from his, that’s great. You do you, and he’ll do him and his family. Relax everybody.”
Last Wednesday, the official account for Kansas City appeared to doxx Butker’s city of residence in an X post, though the post was later deleted.
“We apologize for our previous tweet. It was shared in error,” the team apologized Wednesday evening.
Missouri's Attorney General Andrew Bailey responded to Butker's doxxing, noting the incident appeared to be directly in response to the Kansas City Chief's player's Saturday commencement speech.
"I will enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act to ensure Missourians are not targeted for their free exercise of religion," Bailey wrote.
On Thursday, the NFL released a statement distancing itself from Butker's speech.
