The battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers was settled long ago, but a war between some of their fans appears to be ongoing.
The disgraced Eagles fan who was caught on video verbally abusing a female Packers supporter broke his silence on the incident on Wednesday, releasing a statement.
While Ryan Caldwell apologized for his actions, he also disputes the claim by Alexander Basara — the fiance of the woman involved and the man who posted the video — that the situation was “unprovoked.”
Caldwell explained in his statement that the viral video “does not reflect the full context of what transpired” and that his “actions were not without provocation.”
In the video, which was posted early Monday by Basara and viewed more than 31 million times on X as of Thursday morning, Caldwell is seen repeatedly insulting Basara’s fiancee, Ally Keller.
“What it’s like going to Philly just trying to root for your team …” Basara captioned the post.
“Unprovoked, uncalled for. Packers twitter, help me out and find this guy … this is not okay.
“I hate that my fiance had this happen simply cheering for her team.”
In the video, Basara can be heard responding to the fan, telling the man wearing a green Eagles jacket to not call his Keller vulgar names.
“She’s an ugly, dumb c***,” the Eagles fan replies. “You gonna do anything? Shut the f*** up and watch the game.”
Caldwell apologized to Keller and several others in his statement, acknowledging that things got a bit out of hand.
“While attending an NFL game last Sunday to support my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, an incident occurred that I deeply regret,” the statement read. “What began as banter with two Packers fans sitting near me escalated to something more serious and I said things that were unacceptable.
“In the heat of the moment, I chose unforgiving words to address one of the fans, Ms. Ally Keller. I want to sincerely apologize to Ms. Keller for those words, and to my wife, family, and friends, my former employer and colleagues, Packer fans, Eagle fans, the Philadelphia Eagles, the City of Philadelphia, and all who were offended.”
The statement also claimed that Caldwell was “not without provocation” but that he “will live with this experience.”
“That said, there are two sides to every story. The video clip circulating online does not reflect the full context of what transpired, and my actions were not without provocation. I will live with this experience, and I am certainly paying a personal price.
“For those who don’t know me, this incident does not reflect my values or the respect I have for others and is not indicative of the person I am.”
Could Caldwell have been onto something, though?
Several social media sleuths began digging into Basara, finding that he is a content creator with around 60,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Also, Basara and Keller only attended Sunday’s game after he created a GoFundMe page asking for donations to help get him there, despite claiming to live an hour away from Lincoln Financial Field.
“If you didn’t know, I’m born and raised in PA, and actually 1 hour from the Eagles stadium,” Basara wrote. “So I ask of you, the fans … send me to Philly. Send me into the belly of the beast. I’ve done it multiple times repping the Packers proud, and I am fully ready to do it again.”
He also claimed that he had suffered abuse at the stadium on previous visits.
“I’ve been cursed at, stuff thrown at me, and even my first ever cheesehead ripped off my head and thrown into a fire bin while supporting my team in Philly. But I’m sure as hell not scared to do it again.”
After the video went viral, Caldwell was hit hard in his personal life.
On Tuesday night, Caldwell’s employer, BCT announced in a statement that he had been fired, saying the firm had concluded an internal investigation and “decided to part company with the employee.”
While BCT Partners — a management consulting firm focused on diversity, equity and inclusion — condemned Caldwell’s actions, it did so “without condemning the individual.”
“In keeping with our company values, which are firmly centred on respect, dignity, and inclusion, we have decided to part company with the employee. This separation is effective immediately,” the statement from the company read. “We condemn our former employee’s conduct in the strongest possible terms. This individual’s conduct and language were vile, disgusting, unacceptable, and horrific and have no place in our workplace and society. Such conduct is not who we are and not what we stand for.
“At the same time, again to be true to our values, we can condemn the actions without condemning the individual. None of us deserve to be remembered for actions taken on our worst day. We have offered grace and support to our former employee.”
The Eagles already had taken action against Caldwell, banning him from attending games at Lincoln Financial Field.
According to reports, Dom DiSandro – who serves as the Eagles chief security officer, among roles – identified the man involved and came down hard.
“Big Dom has identified the guy and woman involved in this incident,” Derrick Gunn reported on X. “The guy will be banned from future Eagles games … the Eagles will be sending the woman Packers gear as an apology.”