Maria Shriver Slams Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker: ‘Demeaning to Women’

Maria Shriver is not here for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech.

“My curiosity got piqued this week … What point was Harrison Butker really trying to make to women in his graduation speech about their present day life choices? Did he really want them, aka us, to believe that our lives truly only begin when we lean into the vocation of wife and mother?” Shriver, 68, began in a lengthy post via X on Wednesday, May 15. “I read that a couple times over, then I went to listen to it to make sure I heard it correctly. I did.”

While Shriver said that “everyone has the right to free speech in our country” — because “that’s the benefit of living in a democracy” — she noted that “those of us who are women and who have a voice have the right to disagree with Butker.”

“As a woman who has leaned into my vocation of living a meaningful life and working inside and outside the home to not only raise good humans but also raise up our country in various ways, I think it’s demeaning to women to imply that their choices outside of wife and motherhood pale in comparison to that of homemaker,” Shriver wrote.

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She continued: “It took a revolution to get women the right to vote, to get women birth control pills, to get women to be able to put their names on a checking account, to get them maternity leave, to get them anything close to pay equity, to get elected to office, to get them where they are today! Oh my God, don’t get me going, as there is so much more!”

Shriver noted that she’s “happy” for the NFL player’s wife, Isabelle Butker, who’s “happy in her chosen vocation.” Shriver added, “Good for her.”

“But she should let her husband know that not all women can make that choice, even if they wanted to,” Shriver wrote. “Most families can’t get by without both parents working. It’s a luxury to get the choice she has gotten. The vast majority of women have to put food on the table, while also raising kids, caring for aging parents, running companies, volunteering in their local communities, running for office to give us a better world … the list goes on!”

She continued, “And men, well, are they really the ones who set the tone for the culture? Can we all not set the tone for the future? Women, men, gay, straight — of course we can! I will not tell Mr. Butker to stick to kicking, but I would suggest next time he speaks to women first and listen to someone with a clearer take on where most women find themselves in 2024.”

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While addressing the graduating class of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, on Saturday, May 11, Harrison, 28, had a message for the women graduates who “have had the most diabolical lies told to you.”

“How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career?” he stated. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

He also claimed that Isabelle would be “the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother” and stated that “homemaker” is “one of the most important titles of all.”

In addition to his comments about women, Harrison sparked outrage when he compared the LGBTQIA+ community’s Pride Month to “deadly sins” and stated that men “set the tone of society, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in.”

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Shriver isn’t the only celeb who has fired back at Harrison since. The NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Jonathan Beane, also reacted.

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Beane said in a statement to People on Wednesday. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”