NBA

Win Butler's political MVP speech at All-Star celebrity game cut off by ESPN

  • Win Butler named MVP of Friday’s NBA All-Star celebrity game
  • Arcade Fire frontman abruptly cut off during acceptance speech
  • Butler (15 points, 14 rebounds) led Team Canada in 74-64 win
Win Butler
Win Butler was promptly given the hook by ESPN when he brought up politics on Friday. Photograph: Peter Llewellyn/USA Today Sports

After he was named Most Valuable Player of Friday’s NBA All-Star celebrity game, Win Butler said he was retiring from the annual exhibition. What he did next all but ruled out any future invitations.

The Arcade Fire frontman, speaking with ESPN’s Sage Steele, leveraged the platform of a nationally televised acceptance speech to make a political statement – before promptly getting the hook.

“I just want to say that it’s an election year in the US,” Butler began, ESPN almost immediately beginning its go-to-commerical bumper music. “The US has a lot they can learn from Canada: healthcare, taking care of people, and I think—”

The veteran Steele, a truck producer no doubt screaming in her earpiece, affably cut Butler off mid-sentence.

Win Butler turned political during his All-Star celebrity game acceptance speech.

“So we’re talking about celebrities and not politics. Congratulations on your MVP!” Steele said as ESPN quickly cut away with Butler looking simultaneously defeated and bemused.

Butler, with good size (6ft 4in) and reasonably soft touch around the rim, had been dominant as Team Canada won 74-64 over Team USA in the friendly exhibition at Toronto’s Ricoh Coliseum, scoring 15 points on 6-for-17 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds. But few will remember his performance on the court as much as what he did moments after the final buzzer.

Born in California and raised in Texas before attending New Hampshire’s Philips Exeter Academy, Butler moved to Montreal in 2000 to attend McGill University and has lived there since.

There he met band-mate and future wife Régine Chassagne and formed the Arcade Fire, whose third studio album The Suburbs won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2011.

The 35-year-old had opened his remarks on Friday with a tribute to his adopted hometown and notice of his “retirement” from the game which marks the unofficial start of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. He’d finished with eight points and 12 rebounds in last year’s debut appearance.

“I’ve lived in the great city of Montreal for 15 years,” Butler said. “I’ve represented Montreal. If you guys want to fast-track my Canadian citizenship, hopefully this will help make me a permanent resident. I just want to say that I’m retiring as a celebrity right now, so I will not be eligible for the celebrity game next year.

“I’m retiring as a celebrity. We brought this home for Canada. Respect to Drake. Respect to Team Canada.”

Butler is no stranger to the hardwood. For several years he organized an annual charity basketball game coinciding with the Pop Montreal music festival pitting musicians against college players. Among the invitees for the 2014 event were Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, the Strokes’ Nokolai Fraiture and San Antonio Spurs post man Matt Bonner.