X reacts to Auburn basketball star's confrontation with Morgan Freeman
During a 91-77 Auburn basketball victory over Ole Miss, noted Rebels fan Morgan Freeman had a run-in with Tigers big man Johni Broome; who swiped away Freeman's hand when the actor reached out to keep Broome from falling into him in his courtside seat.
“I thought it was an Ole Miss fan just grabbing my jersey and holding onto me,” said Broome (h/t AL.com). "Then I saw who it was and, you know, I’m a big movie guy. I probably watched some of his movies on the plane coming here. But I realized it was him and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m a big fan, I’m sorry.’ And he just said to keep playing. I came back over there again and said I’m sorry again. He said, ‘You’re all good, just keep playing.’ Very good guy. Love him."
Freeman, of course, poses no threat to anyone on the court. The only person who should feel threatened by Freeman is someone competing with him for a commercial voiceover spot.
Still, the entire interaction was noteworthy enough to catch fire even the next day.
X has varied responses to Auburn basketball star Johni Broome's confrontation with Morgan Freeman
OutKick founder Clay Travis blew the interaction up on X, calling the apology from Broome "great."
86 year old Morgan Freeman courtside for Auburn-Ole Miss, gets slapped away by Auburn player who later realizes who it is and apologizes and says he loves his movies. Freeman is a huge Ole Miss fan. This is great: pic.twitter.com/e6RLhR4eUE
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 4, 2024
Others dove deeper into their opinions with their responses. And not all of them agreed the interaction was "great."
"Broome (would not kill you to give his name; he was just nominated for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award) handled it well," one poster prefaced before saying, "Fans ought not to be that close to the court, and Freeman ought to keep his hands to himself."
"Why was he grabbing him in the first place? Do celebrities get to do this or something?" asked another.
"So he only felt bad for treating someone like that because he realized they're a celebrity," another prefaced before sarcastically saying, "Great."
"Everybody relax," one poster commanded. "It was the end of the game. Initially he put his hand up to keep Johni from falling into him. Then he thought he’d tug his shirt to compliment Johni. Johni thought a fan was tugging his jersey and swiped his hand. No malice on either side. It’s all good."
Broome will surely think twice before responding to a fan tugging at his jersey moving forward.