Banned and fired Eagles fan apologizes for berating Packers supporter, but says video lacks ‘full context’
Ryan Caldwell lost his job after the video went viral, but he said in a statement that “there are two sides to every story.”
The Eagles fan who was captured on video berating a Packers fan Sunday during the team’s wild-card game has broken his silence with a statement and an apology. Ryan Caldwell, who has since been fired from his job and banned from all future events at Lincoln Financial Field, apologized to the woman in the video, but also stated that the now-viral video does not show the full context of the interaction.
“While attending an NFL game last Sunday to support my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, an incident occurred that I deeply regret,” Caldwell said in a statement to several media outlets. “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. 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.”
Alexander Basara, Keller’s fiancé and Packers content creator who filmed the interaction, posted on X that Caldwell’s act was “unprovoked.”
Caldwell had not immediately replied to a request for comment from The Inquirer.
In a recent interview with NBC Philadelphia, Keller and Basara, who live in Chester County, offered more on what led to the expletive-filled tirade.
“It wasn’t about the game, either,” Keller said. “He was making personal jabs at me.”
“He just kept saying some of the same things,” Basara added. “So I turned around; we ignored him. And it just continued throughout the entire game and got worse and worse.”
“‘Actually, you’re not even good-looking enough to be talking to me,’” Keller said, explaining Caldwell’s comments. “And then I said, ‘What does that mean?’ He said, ‘You know what that means.’ So I said, ‘Have you looked in the mirror yourself?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but I’m a man, I’m allowed to be ugly. You’re a woman.’ ... There’s all Eagles fans allowing this to happen, so I didn’t want to turn around and yell at this guy and have my fiancé get jumped in the crowd.”
Following the incident Sunday, Caldwell was quickly identified by fans. And a day after his employer, BCT Partners, said it was conducting an internal investigation, the firm announced Tuesday night, without identifying Caldwell by name, that it was firing the employee in question.
Caldwell has also been banned from events at the Linc, including Eagles games.
Basara had created a GoFundMe in order to attend the game, asking Packers fans to “send [him] into the belly of the beast,” writing that in past experiences at the Linc, he had been “cursed at, stuff thrown at me, and even my first ever cheesehead ripped off my head and thrown into a fire bin.”
“I’ve been to 20-plus stadiums and it’s normally like that,” he told NBC after the game, adding that he won’t likely be returning to the Linc for a Birds game. “You know, Eagles is a little bit more harsh sometimes, but it’s all in playful fun.”
He did not respond to a request for comment.