Travis Kelce Tells Brother Jason He Was ‘Defending Your Family’ in Phone-Smashing Incident

Mar. 15, 2025

David Calvert/Getty

Jason Kelcewill forever haveTravis Kelcein his corner.

After theretired Philadelphia Eagles star, 37, went viral on Saturday, Nov. 2, forsmashing the phone of a Penn State football fanwho called Travis, 35, “a f—– datingTaylor Swift” and later repeated the homophobic slur back to the fan, his younger brother reacted to the incident during the Wednesday, Nov. 6 edition of theirNew Heightspodcast.

“I know it’s weighing on you, brother. That s— sucks. You shouldn’t feel this much,” expressed Travis about the interaction that took place outside of Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., ahead of Jason’s appearance on ESPN’sCollege GameDayduring the Penn State-Ohio State game.

Jason Kelce works as a broadcaster on Monday Night Football prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints on October 7, 2024.David Eulitt/Getty

David Eulitt/Getty

Travis said he believes people “passing around the videos” of the incident made for a “bigger situation than I think what it really is.”

“The real situation is you had some f—— clown come up to you and talk about your family and you reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might’ve used some words that you regret using,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said.

“That’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own. I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world,” continued Travis. “You don’t choose hate, that’s just not who you are.”

Travis Kelce takes part in pregame warmups prior ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 4, 2024.David Eulitt/Getty

Travis' remarks came after Jason, whofirst addressed the incident on the Nov. 4 edition of ESPN’sMonday Night Countdown, said on the podcast that he was “not happy about the situation” and that his reaction “gave the situation notoriety.”

The former football center said the “thing that I regret the most is saying that word to be honest with you … the word he used it’s just f—— ridiculous and it takes it to another level. It’s just off the wall, f—— over the line.”

“It’s dehumanizing and it got under my skin, it elicited a reaction,” continued Jason.

“In the heat of the moment, I thought ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m going to throw this s— right back in his face. F— him,’ " he said admitting he knows now that he “shouldn’t have done that.”

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Penn State Police confirmed to PEOPLEon Monday, Nov. 5, that the altercation is under investigation. At the time of the incident, PEOPLE reached out to representatives for both Jason and ESPN but didn’t immediately receive a response.

source: people.com