Katy Perry shared an edited version of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's pro-Christian commencement speech in support of Pride Month.
Last month, Butker delivered his speech at Benedictine College, a Catholic institution, which criticized President Joe Biden, the LGBTQ community, and encouraged graduating women to embrace their role as a "homemaker." The speech went viral as Butker came under intense scrutiny over the content of his remarks.
In a Sunday post to her Instagram, the pop star shared a heavily edited version of Butker's speech which made the Chiefs kicker appear to give the opposite of his original message. Perry captioned the post: "Fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride."
“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 says in Perry’s edited video. “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?” NEW: Katy Perry edits Harrison Butker's graduation speech to be more inclusive of her 'girls' and 'gays' for Pride Month
“Fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ 🧡” Perry wrote in the caption of her video… pic.twitter.com/ekFK84XQik
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) June 3, 2024
“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," Butker continues. "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 into this world.”
“The road ahead is bright. Things are changing. Society is shifting, and people young and old are embracing diversity, equity and inclusion. With that said, I want to say Happy Pride Month to all of you and congratulations Class of 2024!” the video concludes.
Shortly after Butker's May speech, the NFL released a statement distancing itself from his remarks.
"Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," NFL's Senior Vice President Jonathan Beane told People Magazine. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger."
Butker's city of residence was later doxxed by Kansas City's official X account, though the post was later deleted.
"We apologies [sic] for our previous tweet. It was shared in error," the city apologized. We apologies for our previous tweet. It was shared in error.
— Kansas City (@KansasCity) May 16, 2024
In response to his doxxing, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he would enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act in response to Kansas City's account revealing Butker's location.
A petition was also started on Change.org demanding Butker's dismissal from the team. The petition currently has just under 229,000 signatures as of Monday.
