Eddie Vedder Slams Harrison Butker’s Controversial Commencement Speech

Eddie Vedder had some choice words for Harrison Butker following the Kansas City Chiefs kicker’s controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College last week. 

During Pearl Jam’s Saturday (May 18) concert at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 59-year-old rock star cut right to the chase when expressing his feelings about Butker’s beliefs, particularly the athlete’s assertion that women should prioritize raising families instead of pursuing careers outside of the home. 

“There should be pride in homemaking, whether you’re a man or woman,” he began. “It’s maybe one of the hardest jobs and you should definitely take pride in it. But you shouldn’t not follow a dream because you think … you’re going to benefit by giving up your dreams? I couldn’t understand the logic.”

“He was telling men, ‘Don’t forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine, don’t lose your masculinity,’” Vedder continued while strumming his guitar, as captured in a fan video. “The irony was that when he was saying that, he looked like such a f–king p—y.”  

The “Even Flow” singer added, “There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman.” 

The concert comes a little over a week after Butker took the stage at Benedictine’s May 11 commencement ceremony to condemn President Joe Biden, abortion, birth control, Pride Month and “the cultural emasculation of men” before discouraging the female graduates in attendance from “thinking about all of the promotions and titles” they would soon get in their careers. 

“I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” the NFL player continued at the time. “I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.” 

In the same speech, Butker also promoted antisemitic misinformation about a congressional bill, as well as quoted the song “Bejeweled” by Taylor Swift — whom he simply referred to as Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s “girlfriend” — while admonishing church leaders who become “overly familiar” with their parishioners. “This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time,” he said with a smile. “Because as my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘Familiarity breeds contempt.’” 

Vedder isn’t the only star who’s spoken out against Butker’s comments. Maren Morris, Flavor Flav and more celebrities have all used their platforms to condemn the athlete’s words. However, other stars such as Whoopi Goldberg and actress Patricia Heaton have publicly defended Butker’s right to say them. 

See the moment Vedder slammed Butker at Pearl Jam’s Las Vegas concert below.