Jason Kelce Won’t Face Charges in Penn State Phone Slamming Incident, Police Say

Mar. 15, 2025

Jason Kelce.Photo:Justin Edmonds/Getty

Justin Edmonds/Getty

Jason Kelcewon’t face charges related to his early Novembercellphone incidentwith a fan at a Penn State University football game, campus police confirmed Wednesday.

Kelce, 37, made headlines when he smashed a fan’s cellphone on the ground after the person incessantly followed him and yelled obscenities, including using an homophobic slur to refer to Kelce’s younger brotherTravis Kelce.

Jacqueline Sheader, a public information officer with the Penn State University Campus Police Department, confirmed with PEOPLE that that campus police officially closed the case surrounding the Nov. 2 incident.

“The individual in the video footage circulating on social media has not been identified, and no one has come forward to University Police with a related complaint about damage to personal property,” Sheader told PEOPLE.

ThePhiladelphia Inquirerand theAssociated Pressfirst reported the news.

Jason Kelce.Kevin Sabitus/Getty

Kevin Sabitus/Getty

The altercation between the aggressive fan and the retired NFL star took place outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium just prior to a Penn State football game against Ohio State University — one of the most highly anticipated college football games of the year. Kelce was on hand at Beaver Stadium to make an appearance on ESPN’sCollege GameDay, which was filmed outside prior to the marquee matchup.

Video of the incident quickly went viral on social media, showing a crowd of people following Kelce as he walked outside the stadium.

“Hey, Kelce. How does it feel your brother’s a f—– datingTaylor Swift?” the fan yells at Kelce, referencing his younger brother’s relationship with the Eras Tour singer.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Kelce then turns around, grabs the fan’s phone, and smashes it on the ground. The initial user who posted the clip on X noted that the fan appeared to be “getting in Kelce’s face for no reason" before yelling the slur, prompting Kelce to turn around and grab his phone.

Other angles of the incident shared online show the fan following Kelce and filming him for an extended period of time before Kelce eventually turned around to address him. “Who’s the f—– now?” Kelce appeared to ask the fan after smashing their phone on the ground, as others began to intervene.

Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce.David Calvert/Getty

David Calvert/Getty

Jason addressed the incident on Monday Night Football two days later, saying he’s “not happy” with the situation or how he handled it, admitting that “within a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate and I don’t think that’s a productive thing.”

The Kelce brothers alsodiscussed the incidentlater in the week on theirNew Heightspodcast, noting that the situation had been “weighing” on the older Kelce — in particular, his decision to repeat the fan’s slur.

Kelce called the fan’s slur “dehumanizing” and said it upset him. “In the heat of the moment, I thought, ‘Hey, what can I say back to him? I’m going to throw this s— right back in his face. F— him,’ " the retired NFL star said, admitting he “shouldn’t have done that.“Travis told his older brother “the real situation is you had some f—ing clown come up to you and talk about your family and you reacted in a way that was defending your family, and you might’ve used some words that you regret using.”

“That’s a situation you’ve just got to learn from and own,” the younger Kelce said. “I think you owning it and you speaking about it shows how sincere you are to a lot of people in this world. You don’t choose hate, that’s just not who you are.”

source: people.com