Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler was the MVP of the Celebrity All-Star Game, but was cut off when he started talking politics
Team Canada defeated Team USA in the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday night. At the end of the less-than-serious contest that’s more of an entertainment event than a sporting contest, it was the lead singer of the band Arcade Fire, Win Butler, who finished as the game’s MVP as he put up 15 points and 14 rebounds in the win for Canada. However, things got quite awkward after he accepted the award and tried to talk politics.
Butler was talking with ESPN’s Sage Steele after accepting the trophy for the Celebrity All-Star Game MVP and brought up the fact that it’s an election year in the United States. Butler then started to being what seemed like a rant about what the U.S. can learn from Canada in regards to government. Before he could really get going, though, Steeled cut him off and didn’t give him a chance to finish—resulting in one of the most awkward All-Star Weekend moments ever:
Yikes. That was painful to watch in so many ways that it’s too hard to count them all.
If one thing’s clear, ESPN is definitely not trying to get political during the NBA All-Star festivities. Butler hadn’t gotten two full sentences into his speech before that microphone was yanked away from him.