ESPN’s Jason Kelce Avoids Discipline After Viral Fan Confrontation

The dust continues to settle from Jason Kelce’s viral confrontation with a fan at Penn State on Saturday.

ESPN is not punishing Kelce, who joined the cast of Monday Night Countdown this season, for slamming a fan’s phone to the ground after the male student used a homophobic slur to instigate the situation. Kelce then used the same slur in his reaction, which was caught on multiple videos that circulated throughout social media.

Kelce had appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning. He waited to address the situation publicly for the first time at the top of Monday night’s show ahead of the Buccaneers-Chiefs Monday Night Football game at Arrowhead Stadium. 

“I’m not happy with anything that took place,” Kelce said in his minute-long explanation on ESPN. “I’m not proud of it. And in a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing. … I try to treat people with common decency and respect, even though I fell short this week. I’m going to do that moving forward and continue to do that.”

Kelce is expected to address the situation further on his weekly podcast, New Heights, which will be released Wednesday. “I don’t think this is the platform to go into more detail,” he said Monday on ESPN. Kelce was spotted in Taylor Swift’s suite at Arrowhead Stadium during Monday night’s game, as his brother, Travis, caught 14 passes for 100 yards in the Chiefs’ 30–24 overtime victory.

In the past, other former high-profile ESPN personalities like Bill Simmons, Colin Cowherd, and Jemele Hill have been suspended for various actions and comments made on ESPN airwaves and social media. 

Penn State police are investigating the incident, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. An officer “observed a visitor damaging personal property,” per the crime logs.