Whoopi Goldberg has something to say about Harrison Butker!
If you haven’t been following, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker sparked quite the outrage after giving the commencement address Benedictine College in Kansas over the weekend. He pretty much tried to stuff all women into one box, saying their lives don’t really start until they become homemakers. And the promises of successful careers are just “diabolical lies,” despite his own mother being an accomplished physicist. He also took aim at the “deadly sins” of the LGBTQ+ community… Yeah. Not good.
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Watch his full speech at your own discretion (below):
People have rightly been OUTRAGED over the offensive speech, even calling on the NFL, who said his views do not reflect the organization, to give him the boot. But Whoopi is defending him! Kind of…
Speaking on The View on Thursday, the incredibly accomplished woman (don’t forget she’s an EGOT, y’all!) wanted to remind everyone he’s entitled to the same free speech everyone else is:
“Listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college, he’s a staunch Catholic. These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to them. I don’t have to believe them. I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them.”
She then equated Harrison to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who famously took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. She said:
“The same way we want respect when Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours.”
The 68-year-old even related to the controversial 28-year-old with some of the backlash she’s faced in her own life:
“If you’re coming for me, I have the right to say what I say. He has the right to say what he says.”
Finally, The Color Purple star finished by discussing the petition to have him removed by the NFL:
“When you say to somebody, ‘I don’t like what you said and so I’m going to get your job taken away because you disagree with me,’ for me that is an issue. It happens to us all the time! That is why I am standing up for him.”
We get that, of course we of all people are for freedom of speech! But where is the line? The man is literally saying it’s an evil sin to be a member of the LGBT community. In a time when the danger of both removal of rights AND physical attacks is increasing every day, this certainly at least dances up to the edge, right? And don’t the folks calling on the NFL to fire him also have the right to say that??
Watch the full conversation (below):
What are your thoughts here, Perezcious readers? Can you see where Whoopi’s coming from? That she doesn’t agree with his words, but rather his right to say what he feels he needs to say? Let us know down in the comments.
[Images via ABC & Benedictine College/YouTube]
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