Alex Basara and his fiancée, Ally Keller, have broken their silence about the viral incident that saw an Eagles fan hurl vulgar insults at Keller during Sunday’s wild-card showdown between the Packers and Eagles.
Basara and Keller, Packers fans from Chester County, Pennsylvania, described the disconcerting scene that unfolded inside Lincoln Financial Field, which ended with Ryan Caldwell being filmed calling Keller a “dumb c–t.”
In an interview with NBC10, the couple said everything started friendly with the Eagles fans around them and that “he started out with playful jabs” while Basara and Keller sat in their seats.
“I chatted with him for a bit,” Basara told the outlet. “But then he just kept saying some of the same things. Continued through the entire game. It got worse and worse as the game went on. We were surrounded by Eagles fans. We were getting all the attention.”
Things started to get nastier, according to the couple, as the Eagles increased their lead over the Packers.
At one point they said Caldwell asked them if they were having a good time and told the couple that they had “terrible attitudes” before going into detail about his third-grade teacher instilling in him the virtues of having a “great attitude.”
“He was just going on and on and on,” Keller said. “He wanted something out of us. So, I turned around, because I kind of had enough of it at this point, and I said, ‘Well, maybe you should go back to third grade then because it seems like you’re the one with the bad attitude. And it seems like all the fans around us are the ones with the bad attitudes.’”
The situation escalated from there and when Keller said that the insults started to come.
She told NBC10 that Caldwell then began attacking her looks.
“And then he just said, ‘Actually, you’re not even good looking enough to be talking to me,’” Keller explained. “And then I said, you know, ‘What does that mean?’ And he said, ‘You know what that means.’ And 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.’”
Things only escalated, even after the pair said they asked a person sitting next to Caldwell they believed to be his brother if he could intercede to de-escalate the situation.
As the tension grew, the couple said they were hesitant to engage too aggressively since they were the only Packers fans in the section in what Basara called a “dangerous situation.”
“I was I guess trying to stay calm but I was pretty fuming at that point and just hopeful that another fan would tell this guy to stop. And everyone just kind of stood around and I guess allowed him to call me that name,” Keller said.
Eventually, Basara thought to pull out his phone and started to record, which he said ended up calming things down.
The couple moved to the end of the row later in the game and made sure to leave before the other group of Eagles fans so as to not have them walking down the aisle behind them.
Caldwell has been banned from all future events at Lincoln Financial Field and his employer, BCT Partners, released a statement condemning his actions and announcing they launched an investigation.
“BCT Partners denounces this type of behavior, and we take this matter extremely seriously,” read BCT Partner’s statement, which didn’t name Caldwell specifically. “As an organization that has always stood for inclusivity, the conduct displayed was completely unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to our company values.
“We have already begun a full investigation as an internal personnel matter to determine what actions will be taken. We sincerely apologize to everyone affected by this behavior and remain committed to fostering a culture of respect for all.”
Later Tuesday, BCT Partners decided to fire Caldwell.
