Colts icon and former punter Pat McAfee is no stranger to controversy, and has gotten himself involved in multiple feuds throughout the years. He's notorious for his brash, outspoken personality, and it's gotten him into hot water a time or two.
Currently, McAfee is - along with the rest of the Indiana sports community - cheering on the Pacers as they take on the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Conversely, a trio of diehard Knicks fans, and Hollywood superstars, have likewise been attending the games: actors Ben Stiller and Timothee Chalamet, and director Spike Lee.
All three were sitting courtside in Indianapolis when McAfee was given the mic during the fourth quarter to get the crowd pumped. And he had a NSFW message that left Pacers fans booing, and roaring:
"Spike Lee is here. Ben Stiller is here. Timothée Chalamet is here. Let’s send these sons of b------ back to New York with their ears bleeding!"
While Chalamet and Lee haven't responded (yet), Stiller seemed to take umbrage to the comments, replying that the comments were "weird," but that Indiana fans were otherwise great to be around that night.
McAfee later addressed the controversy on his show, where he heaped praise on all three celebrities, before adding that being in the front row, they were "part of the show," and said that he gave them "mad respect" for coming and showing such support for the Knicks. "I didn't even think about there being a negative reaction," he said.
With that, the beef between McAfee and Stiller seemed to have been buried, as Stiller tweeted an invitation for McAfee to come to Game 5, and added that they could sit courtside together.
That would seem to be the end of the story... except Stiller wasn't the only one who was offended by McAfee.
Indiana's own John Mellencamp decided to weigh in, saying he was ashamed of McAfee's behavior, though he didn't specifically name him.
"'Hoosier Hospitality. I was embarrassed when somebody, under whose direction I don't know, called out some of the people who had made the trip from New York to support their team — and in turn, support our team," Mellencamp wrote. "The audience booed these people. I'd say that was not Hoosier Hospitality. One could only say it's poor, poor sportsmanship. I was not proud to be a Hoosier, and I've lived here my entire life. On behalf of most Hoosiers, I would like to apologize for our poor behavior. I'm sure the Pacers had nothing to do with this smackdown."
Ever the firebrand, McAfee didn't back down at all, sharing Mellencamp's statement with a three word response: "I am 'somebody.'"
Clearly, McAfee has no regrets, and Mellencamp's response seems a bit odd, considering that Chalamet and Stiller had, reportedly, all taken McAfee's comments in good fun. And in true McAfee fashion, he wasted no time snarking back on Friday's episode of his show. "He said, 'this is not sportsmanship,'" McAfee said. "Well, I thought maybe his high horse was so high, he didn't have his binoculars to be able to watch the game. There's a chance he couldn't see all the way down there."
He and his team also accused Mellencamp of seeing the reaction to the McAfee-Stiller spat, and decided to jump on the viral bandwagon to try to get attention -- and then pointed out how he completely "missed the mark." They further poured salt into the wound by pointing out how many Indiana fans had replied with anecdotes about Mellencamp's own bad behavior. Ouch.
The Pacers are trying to win their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000, with Game 6 coming this weekend. If McAfee has anything to do with it, there will almost certainly be more fireworks coming... both on and off the court.