Patricia Heaton unfazed by Harrison Butker’s speech controversy: ‘Nothing offensive found

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has received another defender amid controversy, this time in the form of actress Patricia Heaton.

Butker delivered a commencement speech at Benedictine College earlier this month that has become controversial to some over various statements he made in the speech, including discussing the role a woman can play in a family’s home. Heaton, known for her role in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, said she did not understand the controversy herself, noting how the speech’s audience applauded several times while Butker was talking.

“I don’t understand why everybody’s knickers are in a twist. He gave a commencement speech,” Heaton said in an Instagram video. “The audience applauded twice during the speech and gave him a standing ovation at the end, so clearly they enjoyed what he was saying.”

Heaton added that Butker was simply “espousing his own opinions” during his speech and was also speaking Catholic doctrine at a Catholic school. The actress is a Catholic herself and contended that Butker “went after bishops much more than he went after women.”

“I find nothing offensive about what he said, even though my life is very different, and he might even look at my life and say that’s not the way it should be,” Heaton said. “That’s OK. That’s his opinion. God has used my life, so I’m just curious as to why people get offended. If you have made choices in your life and you feel those are the right choices and you’re comfortable and they’re working out for you and your family, great.”

Earlier this month, Heaton mocked a video from an activist supporting Palestine, joking that she had become “enemy number one” for her support of Israel amid the country’s war with the Hamas terrorist group.

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Besides Heaton, another celebrity who has come to the aid of Butker is comedian Bill Maher, who joked that he and Butker have very opposite views on many things but that he did not see what was so controversial about the football player’s speech.

Despite some critics, Butker has received praise from many for his speech, with his jersey skyrocketing in sales since he spoke at Benedictine College.