Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker was left off the guest list by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift on their big day at Madison Square Garden.
An NFL source told the Daily Mail that Butker, who has played alongside Kelce since 2017, was not at the wedding on Friday.
He is believed to be the only member of the Kansas City roster who did not receive an invitation, with every other Chiefs player expected to be in attendance on Friday night.
The celebration, which has closed off the streets around the iconic arena, featured a who’s who of the A-list world, such as Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg and Jay-Z, with 1,000 guests from Hollywood, the music industry, fashion and sports colliding.
The snub therefore comes as a blow for Butker, who sparked uproar two years ago when he suggested women should prioritize being stay-at-home mothers over their careers during a commencement speech at Kansas City’s Benedictine College.
The three-time Super Bowl champion also appeared to condemn then-President Joe Biden’s pro-abortion stance and the LGBTQ+ community, igniting outrage at the time. A petition for Butker to be cut by the Chiefs was signed by more than 260,000 people.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker was left off Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s wedding guest list
Butker’s snub comes just over two years after his controversial commencement speech
Amid the controversy, Kelce stood up for his teammate against the cancel culture backlash, describing him as a ‘great person’ – despite admitting he disagreed with almost every opinion he shared in the speech.
‘When it comes down to his views and what he said at the Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids,’ he said about Butker on his New Heights podcast in May 2024.
‘And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.
‘I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities in Cleveland Heights and that’s why I love Cleveland Heights for what it was.
‘It showed me a broad spectrum, a broad view of a lot of different walks of life. I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons and I never once had to feel that I needed to judge them based [on] their beliefs.
‘My household, my mother and my father both provided for my family and both my mother and my father made home what it was. They were homemakers and they were providers. And they were unbelievable at being present every single day of my life.
‘I think that was a beautiful upbringing for me. Now I don’t think everyone should do it the way my parents did, but I certainly, sure as hell, thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and make home what it was.
‘I’m not the same person without the both of them being who they were in my life.’
The three-time Super Bowl champion controversially suggested women should prioritize being stay-at-home mothers
The Daily Mail understands Butker is the only Chiefs star not invited. Above, embracing Kelce in 2024
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Kelce’s older brother, Jason, also disagreed with Butker’s viewpoints despite hitting out at the level of outrage over his speech.
‘There are always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you are going to disagree with,’ Jason said on the same podcast episode.
‘Make no mistake about it, the things he said in the commencement speech are not things that I align myself with. But he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university and shocker, it ended up being a very religious speech.
‘To me, I can listen to somebody talk and take great value in it when he is talking about the importance of family and the importance of a great mother – while also acknowledging that not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.
‘When you listen to somebody, you take in what you like and you listen to other things and say I don’t f***ing like that.’
The Philadelphia Eagles legend added: ‘We’ve played our entire careers with people that we don’t align on with everything. I don’t know, I’ve played with one teammate that he and I have agreed with every single thing that each one of us thinks. And that’s the beauty! You find a way to work together.’
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid also leaped to Butker’s defense at the time.
‘I’ve known [Harrison] for seven years and I judge him by the character that he shows every single day. And that’s a good person,’ Mahomes said. ‘That’s someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family, and wants to make a good impact in society.’
Chiefs coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes defender Butker back in 2024
Reid argued: ‘Everybody is from different areas, different religions, different races, and so we all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions,’ Reid said.
‘It’s a great thing about America, man,’ Reid continued. ‘And we’re just, like I said, a microcosm of that and my wish is that everybody could kind of follow that.’
‘I don’t think he was speaking ill to women, but he has his opinions and we all respect that. I let (the media) in this room and you have a lot of opinions that I don’t like.’
However, Butker received an onslaught from Swift’s die-hard legion of ‘Swiftie’ fans, who branded his speech ‘misogynistic’ and ‘disgusting.’
Two years on, the kicker is the only one of Kelce’s teammates who is not invited to Friday night’s wedding extravaganza at MSG.
A host of Chiefs stars were seen making their journeys to the arena, with Chris Jones, Kareem Hunt and Trent McDuffie all spotted.
Former Kansas City wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr, Las Vegas Raiders tight end coach Luke Steckel, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp and NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield also received coveted invites.
Butker has been offered the chance to comment by the Daily Mail.
