Pat McAfee has been called out by music legend John Mellencamp after he branded Ben Stiller and other visiting Knicks fans ‘sons of b****es’.
Stiller, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Timothee Chalamet were among the celebrities who travelled to Indianapolis for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
Former NFL star-turned-WWE and ESPN personality McAfee took to the microphone at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to give their rival fans a brutal welcome.
‘Indianapolis, Indiana. We’ve got some big wigs from the big city in the building!’ McAfee said.
He then called out Lee, Stiller, and Chalamet before shouting: ‘Let’s send these sons of b****es back to New York with their ears ringing.’
The clip quickly went viral but it didn’t go down well with all of McAfee’s fellow Pacers fans.
Former Colts punter Pat McAfee riled up the Pacers crowd and called out big-name Knicks fans
Timothee Chalamet, Ben Stiller, and Spike Lee all made the trip from the Big Apple for the game
Rock star John Mellencamp, 73, apologized for McAfee’s ’embarrassing’ behavior
Rock star Mellencamp, 73, was also among the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and, ahead of Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, he apologized for McAfee’s ’embarrassing’ behavior.
‘The Knicks/Pacers games have been very entertaining for anyone who like s basketball or sports. I attended Game 4 in Indianapolis,’ Mellencamp said in a statement.
‘”Hoosier Hospitality”.. I was embarrassed when somebody, under whose direction I don’t know, called out some of the people who had made the trip from New York to support their team – and in turn, support our team.
‘The audience booed these people. I’d say that was not Hoosier Hospitality. One could only say it’s poor, poor sportsmanship. I was not proud to be a Hoosier, and I’ve lived here my entire life.
‘On behalf of most Hoosiers, I would like to apologize for our poor behavior. I’m sure the Pacers had nothing to do with this smackdown.’
McAfee, a former NFL punter for the Indianapolis Colts, was at the game alongside his boss at WWE, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque.
He will not be at MSG for Game 5 but McAfee did respond to Mellencamp on social media. ‘I am “somebody”,’ he wrote alongside the musician’s statement.
