Travis Kelce's beer chug during the live broadcast of the New Heights podcast on the campus of Cincinnati, after he and Jason Kelce received honorary degrees, sparked a buzz online. While some were unaware that the ceremony was not an official commencement and based their comments on the assumption that Travis did this at an official event, others were outraged that Cincinnati permitted the moment to occur, whether real or not.
“Any other graduate would get in trouble for that lol,” X user @winstreakzapp shared on X before realizing it wasn't an official commencement, as acknowledged in later tweets in the thread.
Another user who goes by @elite_nebraska posted, “Love the chiefs.. Kelce as a football player is one of the best, but this is seriously so cringe. Who does he think he is? Im embarrassed for him.”
Dillard University's notable HBCU alumnus Tevon Blair quoted a tweet by Dov Kleiman, stating, “all my mind can think about is how certain HBCUs be dragging graduates out of the ceremony by law enforcement for strolling but this man is drinking a beer on stage with admin smiling. I’d just like for our HBCU admin to loosen up when Black graduates are celebrating themselves.”
Blair responded to the news, clarifying that it was an honorary commencement. “The swifties in the comments saying it’s for a podcast and that makes it even more tacky. Universities and higher education in general take their brand very seriously— saying yes to a podcast is odd but of course can’t be surprised.”
Other social media commentators discussed how non-celebrity students are treated if they dance or celebrate in a way deemed inappropriate at official university commencement ceremonies. Kelce's beer chugging imagery seemed to upset many college students and alumni, who were already concerned about what some see as excessive scrutiny of graduates' actions during a significant milestone in their lives.
There were plenty other comments that believed that Kelce actions were a bridge too far, even for a non-honorary event. However, Jason Kelce took to his Twitter/X account on Saturday to post a response to the backlash.
I know it looks like a graduation from the video, but this was actually at the end of a New Heights Live podcast that we put on to raise money for the University’s NIL. The university did this to poke fun at my brother and I for never really picking up our diplomas. https://t.co/enl4C0a0bE
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) April 13, 2024
He responded to a tweet from @Truck1223 saying, “@JasonKelce please question your brother for the graduation antics? Doing what you did at a playoff game in buffalo is one thing but doing that at the college where he got kicked off the team for acting like a jackass prob wasnt best idea”
Jason Kelce quoted the tweet and said, “I know it looks like a graduation from the video, but this was actually at the end of a New Heights Live podcast that we put on to raise money for the University’s NIL. The university did this to poke fun at my brother and I for never really picking up our diplomas.”
It's unclear if Travis Kelce will respond to the controversy, as he hasn't posted anything from his X account since April 3rd and the last post on his Instagram is a picture of him from the impromptu unofficial commencement ceremony. But, we should probably expect for the Kelce brothers to respond in some way on the latest edition of the New Heights podcast.
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