Jason Kelce Hasn't Been Very Shy About His Politics
11/24/2024 08:13 AM
Jason Kelce is hitting the late-night television game.
The former NFL star, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, is set to join the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and more. Kelce, who retired following the 2023 season, will be hosting his own late-night show for ESPN. The future Hall of Fame offensive lineman joined the Worldwide Leader following his successful playing career.
Kelce will be hosting "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce," he told Jimmy Kimmel this week. The one-hour show will tape on five straight Friday nights beginning Jan. 3. It'll air in front of a live audience from Union Transfer in Philadelphia. The first four shows will begin at 1 a.m. E.T. with the final one beginning at 1:30 a.m. E.T.
Late-night hosts like Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert, Meyers, etc. are all pretty left leaning. But where does the former NFL star turned late-night show host fall on the political scale?
Over the years, Kelce, who grew up in Ohio, has made it pretty clear which way he leans politically.
The older brother of Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce appears to lean left, too. Kelce took a clear shot at Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during the commencement speech controversy at Benedictine College in Missouri.
"All of you have been fed diabolical lies that washing every crevice of your bodies and hair, all the time is somehow better or healthier. Any dermatologist not in bed with Big Soap will agree!! Hot spots are all that is necessary and actually leads to cleaner healthier skin," he joked, taking a clear shot at Butker's "diabolical lies" line at his speech.
His brother, Travis Kelce, appears to be on the same, page, doing many left-leaning acts like:
- Appearing in socially progressive sketches on the late-night NBC show "Saturday Night Live"
- Kneeling for the national anthem as a white player in 2017
- Doing a commercial for the COVID-19 vaccine, which was ripped by the right
- Doing endorsements for Bud Light, which has taken heat as a company from the right
Jason Kelce also strongly defended his brother and Taylor Swift from hate speech outside of Penn State earlier this month. Though, Jason Kelce regretted what words he used.
"I'm just going to address it because I feel like it needs one more time and then hopefully we can stop talking about this really stupid situation that occurred," Kelce said on an episode of their "New Heights" podcast. "I'm not happy about the situation. Me reacting gave him the time of day, and it also gave the situation notoriety. That's what I regret, all right? It didn't deserve attention, it was really stupid. If I just keep walking, none of this, it's a (expletive) nothingburger [and] nobody sees it."
The Kelce brothers had been viewed as a "threat" to the right heading into Election Day in November, even.
"Travis Kelce, especially if he votes Democratic, profoundly disrupts the right-wing appeal to (white) male identity. In fact, when traditionally successful men like Kelce support liberal and progressive causes and candidates—especially when they do so openly and unapologetically—they help to provide a "permission structure" for young men to vote for Democrats, including Joe Biden. This could be a nightmare scenario for MAGA well beyond November," one outlet argued.
The Kelce brothers ultimately chose to stay on the sideline when it came to the election, but based on their past actions, we seem to know where they stand.
Related: Former Super Bowl Champion Is Facing 50 Years In Prison
