Patricia Heaton Defends Harrison Butker Amid Controversial Speech Backlash

Patricia Heaton is in Harrison Butker's corner.

The Everybody Loves Raymond alum reacted to the Kansas City Chiefs kicker's commencement speech at Benedictine College May 11, where he shared his belief that women should be in the home and not the workplace.

"I don't know why everybody's knickers are in a twist," Patricia said in a May 18 Instagram video. "He gave a commencement speech. The audience applauded twice and gave him a standing ovation at the end, so clearly they enjoyed what he was saying. The guy is espousing his own opinions and Catholic doctrine, so what?"

"It's his opinion," the 66-year-old continued. "He can have one. He's allowed. He's not a monster for stating what he believes."

Patricia—who is a Catholic woman who worked throughout her kids' childhood—didn't find his statements offensive, even if they don't align with her lifestyle.

"I'm just curious as to why people get 'offended,'" the Beethoven actress admitted. "If you have made choices in your life and you feel those are the right choices and you feel comfortable and they're working out for you and your family, great. If they're different from his, that's great. You do you. He'll do him."

The Middle star concluded her video, "Relax, everybody."

Among the topics discussed during his speech at the private university in Atchison, Kan., Harrison said that he believed the female students at graduation would likely be more excited about their marriage and children than their future careers.

He also noted that he believes his wife Isabelle Butker, with whom he shares two kids, would say her life truly began when she became a wife and mother.

And Patricia isn't the only star to give her two cents about Harrison's divisive speech. In fact, journalist Maria Shriver slammed his sentiments, while Whoopi Goldberg defended his right to say what he wanted. 

"These are his beliefs and he's welcome to him," Whoopi said on The View May 16. "I don't have to believe them, right? I don't have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them."

Keep reading to see who else reacted to Harrison's eyebrow-raising speech.

The "Bones" singer reacted to Harrison's speech with a reference to a social media trend in which women say whether they'd rather encounter a bear or a man while alone in the woods. 

Under a video of the NFL player's speech, Maren wrote on her Instagram Story, "I choose the bear." 

"What point was Harrison Butker really trying to make to women in his graduation speech about their present day life choices?" Maria wrote on X, formerly Twitter, May 16. "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?"

"Look, everyone has the right to free speech in our country," she continued. "That's the benefit of living in a democracy. But those of us who are women and who have a voice have the right to disagree with Butker."

"I don't understand why everybody's knickers in a twist," the Everybody Loves Raymond actor shared in a video. "He gave a commencement speech. The audience applauded twice during the speech and gave him a standing ovation at the end. So clearly they enjoyed what he was saying. The guy is espousing his own opinions and Catholic doctrine."

"So what? It's his opnion, he can have one," she continued. "He's not a monster for stating what he believes."

"I like when people say what they need to say—he's at a Catholic College, he's a staunch Catholic," she said during the May 16 episode of The View. "These are his beliefs and he's welcome to him. I don't have to believe them, right? I don't have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them."

"I'm okay with him saying whatever he says and the women who are sitting there if they take his advice, good for them, they'll be happy," she added. "If they don't go for them, they will be happy a different way. That's my attitude." 

While emphasizing "how much this guy is not like me,” the TV host did say OF Harrison's speech during Real Time, "I don’t see what the big crime is, I really don’t.”

He continued, "Like he’s saying some of you may go on to successful careers, but a lot of you are excited about this other way that people, everybody used to be and now can. Can’t that just be a choice too?"

The wife and daughter of the Kansas City Chiefs CEO, Clark Hunt, spoke out following the team kicker's controversial statements. 

"I've always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams," Tavia, who also shares daughter Ava Hunt, 18, and son Knobel Hunt, 20, with Clark, wrote on Instagram, alongside throwback pics of herself with her kids. "I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God). But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer." 

Gracie, 25, then told Fox News' Fox & Friends, "I've had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up. And I understand that there are many women out there who can't make that decision. But for me and my life, I know it was really formative and in shaping me and my siblings into who we are."