Katy Perry’s Edit of Harrison Butker’s Commencement Speech Slammed By Megyn Kelly: ‘Dishonest and Petty’

Gil Kaufman
·3 min read
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It’s safe to say that former Fox News host Megyn Kelly is not a KatyCat. In fact, the conservative podcaster said on an episode of her eponymous podcast this week that she finds Katy Perry‘s music “annoying” before flat-out saying she doesn’t like the pop superstar and claiming she “barely” knows who she is.

The comments came after Perry posted her own edit of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s controversial May 11 commencement speech at Benedictine College in which the Super Bowl champ attacked LGBTQ rights and slammed what he termed “dangerous gender ideologies.” The 20-minute speech that also included broadsides against abortion, birth control and surrogacy, included Butker suggesting to female students at the private Catholic university in Illinois that they embrace being a “homemaker.”

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Perry wasn’t having it and posted her own version on Sunday, writing, “fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride,” alongside a second draft of the speech that had a much different, more inclusive tone.

On Tuesday’s episode of her show, Kelly defended Butker’s speech, calling it an “antidote to the general message about stay-at-moms” while denying that the kicker was “condemning working women.”

“Katy Perry is annoying,” Kelly said before cueing up Perry’s edit and loudly huffing over the tape as it played. “She decided to take those comments and switch them around so that he was saying something he never actually said and have him say ‘happy pride.'” Co-host Dave Rubin called the edit “pathetic” and noted that Kelly is an “extremely” successful broadcaster and mother before asking her which title was more important, to which Kelly answered, “there’s no question.”

“But Katy Perry saw her ‘Roar’ moment — which is an annoying song, that’s an annoying song. I don’t like her, I actually don’t think she is a good singer,” Kelly said while mockingly singing Perry’s 2008 breakthrough hit “I Kissed a Girl.” Rubin, meanwhile, claimed he could not even name a single song from the singer who is one of only five artists in history to sell more than 100 million certified units with her digital singles worldwide and who co-hosted American Idol for seven years.

“I barely know who you are,” Kelly added while erroneously saying the singer is married to actor Orlando Bloom ; Perry is engaged to the star, but they are not married though they share a three-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom. “To manipulate the guy’s remarks is dishonest and petty,” Kelly said before dinging Perry again for closing comments on the post after receiving backlash. “She can’t take it!,” Kelly said as Rubin dubbed the singer’s edit a “leftist 101” move.

At press time a spokesperson for Perry had not returned a request for comment.

Listen to Kelly’s comments on Perry here (beginning at the 1:05:55 mark).

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