Travis Kelce has hit back at critics of his beer-guzzling graduation antics at New Heights Live last week after Taylor Swift’s boyfriend was called ‘insufferable’ and an ’embarrassment’ by her fans.
The Kansas City Chiefs star and brother Jason took their smash-hit podcast on the road last week, hosting a live event at their former school the University of Cincinnati.
A chaotic evening was brought to a close by Kelce finally receiving his diploma in a mock commencement ceremony. Before collecting his award, Kelce downed a beer in front of thousands of fans before slamming it to the ground.
But the move did not go down well on social media, with fans claiming Swift must be ‘getting sick of this’ while body language expert Judi James wrote the ‘attention-seeking’ display indicated the NFL star will never ‘mature’.
However, speaking on this week’s episode of New Heights, Kelce defended himself and said the graduation ceremony was ‘just a fun way to close out the night’.
Travis Kelce has hit back at critics of his beer-guzzling graduation antics at New Heights Live
Before collecting his award, Kelce downed a beer in front of thousands of fans in Cincinnati
Discussing the controversy, the three-time Super Bowl winner said: ‘All of you who are thinking this was a graduation ceremony because we just finished out degrees and it was a very serious thing – we appreciate Cincinnati’s president and athletic director for doing this – but it was just a fun way to close out the night.
‘Hopefully you guys can understand that me chugging the beer was because I had a beer in my hand and I had to receive the diploma.
‘I had to get the beer out of my hand someway, so I might as well just finish it. It just happened to be full. Don’t know how that happened.’
Jason then interrupted to mock his younger brother’s failed attempt at downing the beer, claiming most of the contents was still inside the can when he claimed to have finished it.
He said: ‘Well it kind of stayed full as we saw when you threw it on the ground and there was still beer pouring out of it.
Travis replied: ‘Pouring out of it? That was more like foam. It was foam because I couldn’t get the air flow and it was just dumping out.’
Jason Kelce hilariously mocked his younger brother’s failed attempt at downing the beer
Discussing the criticism, Jason added: ‘If there was anything that anybody should have been upset with it’s the fact that you didn’t finish that chug.
‘That’s why I was upset. There was just way too much spillage for that to be considered a successful chug.
‘Sorry for anyone who got upset by this. It just wasn’t that kind of event. It wasn’t that serious. There were two women wrestling in a vat of chilli before this.
‘I’ve never been to a commencement because I skipped mine but I’m pretty sure the athletic director isn’t the person who hands you your diploma. But I loved receiving this diploma from John Cunningham.
‘It was an absolutely fun night, littered with all sorts of shenanigans and in the words of the great Charles Barkley I don’t think Travis or I should be anybody’s role models.
‘I think if you had finished your beer people would have been way less upset with you. That was the main thing that got people upset.’
After footage circulated of Kelce downing his beer at the faux graduation ceremony, body language expert Judi James exclusively told DailyMail.com he’s ‘caught in a state of eternal teenager’.
Kelce’s beer-chugging antics did not go down well with Taylor Swift’s army of fans online
Judi told DailyMail.com: ‘There’s adult, husband material and then there’s this.
‘Receiving his graduation certificate on stage from two polite and formally-gowned men, Travis decides to take the moment to show the world how he can guzzle beer from a can, throwing his head back like a showman to drop the beer from a height so it pours out of his mouth and down over his chin.
‘He then smashes the can to the ground so that what remains of the beer splashes everywhere, including, possibly, the people on stage and the audience.
‘He also grabs the mic to sing the chorus of a song and even for a rebellious teenager this display would look attention-seeking, especially with his mom looking on wearing what appeared to be a smile of pride as she watches her two sons.’
She continued: ‘Many leading sportspeople can get caught in a state of eternal teenager and this does look like telling behavior from a 34-year-old man who is rumored to be prepping to propose to America’s current sweetheart.
‘Heroes can have fun and they can celebrate a win but more usually out on pitch than like this on a stage when some level of maturity might have been called for.’
It also did not go down well with Swift’s legion of loyal fans as they took to social media to slam the NFL star and call him an ’embarrassments
One wrote: ‘Travis Kelce chugging that beer during his college graduation is top tier cringe.’
Another added: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor Swift is getting sick of Travis Kelce’s drunken public behavior.’
And a third said: ‘Travis Kelce is an absolute embarrassment, this type of behavior is cultural rot.
‘This is what Taylor Swift is into and she wonders why she has to write so many breakup albums…’
‘I don’t understand how this is OK today? Just because it’s Travis Kelce? I can’t f**king stand this dude he has really destroyed the NFL and he thinks he is funny the whole way,’ someone else commented.