The Bachelor’s Laura Byrne has sparked debate among her fans after she shared a snarky response video to Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker’s recent commencement speech controversy.
Butker, 28, has been under fire for nearly a week after his talking points as the guest speaker during Benedictine College were deemed by some to be sexist and racist.
In his now-viral speech, the NRL star congratulated the women receiving degrees and said most of them were probably more excited about getting married and having children.
Mother-of-two Laura, 38, who has a degree in fine arts and graphic design, stitched footage of the speech to a clip of herself pretending to be one of the students watching Butker on stage.
Dressed in a graduation gown and cap, the partner of Bachelor star Matty ‘J’ Johnson grimaced and recoiled as Butker said: ‘I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you.’
‘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,’ Butker continued, as Laura continued to react with confusion.
‘I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,’ Butker continued, adding that wife embraced ‘one of the most important titles of all. Homemaker.’
At that point, Laura enthusiastically ripped off her graduation outfit to reveal a 1950s style floral dress beneath, before picking up a feather duster and frying pan.
In a final shot, the jewellery brand owner was seen smiling while dusting and cooking a meal on the stove.
In her caption, she sarcastically wrote: ‘If only I’d listened to an NFL player before I wasted all my time on a silly degree, some silly businesses and my silly opinion,’ adding the hashtag ‘#womencandoboth’ while tagging Butker’s account.
Laura’s response has divided her fans, with some expressing agreement while others argued that the reality star had missed the point Butker was making.
‘I am the odd one out, I like that he recognised the important work of the stay at home parent,’ one user wrote.
‘Also what he said was true in my case, I had a career that I completely loved but it didn’t hold a candle to being home with my kids. I feel so grateful to take care of my family at home and not be away from them slaving away to some corporation that doesn’t actually care about me,’ they continued, adding: ‘All I heard from him was focusing on family and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.’
Someone else added: ‘I actually loved his speech, I don’t think it’s misogynistic at all. If anything, it is quite obvious that he adores his wife, and supports her and their children to the fullest.’
Other users claimed that Laura had taken part of the speech out of context.
‘Dishonest to only take a short clip of what he said and make it seem like he’s saying something he’s not,’ one user wrote.
‘First thing he said was how proud all of the women should feel to have graduated and done amazing. It was a 20 minute speech and he read the room and everyone there loved what he had to say.’
Another wrote: ‘If you were that educated you would watch his speech in full , it doesn’t put down women.’
There were also plenty of users who slammed the sportsman, with one user commenting: ‘That’s so appalling’.
‘WTAF?! What decade are we even in???’ someone else wrote, as another agreed: ‘Most offensive graduation speech.’
Butker delivered his roughly 20-minute address at the Catholic private liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, which is located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) miles north of Kansas City.
He received a standing ovation from some graduates and other attendees.
Aside from praising homemaker women, he also said some Catholic leaders were ‘pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.’
Butker, whose own mother is an accomplished physicist, also criticised Pride month and President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion.
