Kasey Kahne, NASCAR Driver, Tweets Against Breastfeeding In Public, Ignites Controversy Among Fans [UPDATED]

NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne got a mouthful from upset fans on Tuesday after Tweeting that he was disgusted by a mother breastfeeding her baby at a grocery store.

In a series of Tweets, the 31-year-old racecar driver said that the sight caused him to lose his appetite and his desire to continue shopping. (This story has been updated. Scroll down for new information.)

@kaseykahne
Kasey Kahne

Just walking through supermarket. See a mom breast feeding little kid. Took second look because I was obviously seeing things. I wasn't!

December 27, 2011 6:44 pm via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

@kaseykahne
Kasey Kahne

I don't feel like shopping anymore or eating

December 27, 2011 6:46 pm via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

Kahne removed at least two of the remarks by Wednesday morning, but according to Mediate, the driver called upset mother Deana P. (@KnittingRad) a "dumb bitch" after she proposed he reconsider his remarks.

@KnittingRad
Deana P

@kaseykahne wow, you're kind of a douchebag, where would you propose that baby eat, the restroom? Would you eat in the restroom? @scatx

December 27, 2011 6:58 pm via Plume   Reply Retweet Favorite

Kahne's Tweets, which are linked to his Facebook page, elicited nearly 400 comments and more than 1,000 "likes" from fans and foes on the social networking site, who debated their views regarding breastfeeding in public.

Opinions were various and included comments such as: "What's the world coming to??? Not a thing to do in a public place...I know it's natural but not in a supermarket..." and "I'm a nursing mother and as a FORMER fan I'm offended if my child is hungry I will feed him that's what boobs are for not for your eyes but their mouths you should be ashamed of yourself."

Breastfeeding in public has long been a controversial topic, and mothers have been shamed for feeding their child in places such as buses, planes, and shopping malls.

In November, Natalie Hegedus was kicked out of a Michigan court for breastfeeding her baby in the back of the room. Although Hegedus' breasts were reportedly fully covered, the judge deemed the act "inappropriate" for the courtroom.

Another mother decided she was fed up with the negative stigma attached to breastfeeding and encouraged mothers in the United Kingdom to participate in a breastfeeding flash mob.

Currently, 45 states, the District of Columbia and Virgin Islands allow women "to breastfeed in any public or private location," according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Idaho, Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia and South Dakota do not have laws in place. Breastfeeding is also exempt from public indecency laws in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

UPDATE:
Kasey Kahne apologized for these statements on his Facebook page, Wednesday evening, Mediaite reported.

He wrote: "My comments were not directed at the mother's right to breastfeed. They were just a reaction to the location of that choice, and the fashion in which it was executed on that occasion. I respect the mother's right to feed her child whenever and wherever she pleases." (Visit Kahne's Facebook page for the full apology.)

For a screenshot of Kahne's full series of Tweets, visit Mediate.

Comments

[Kari Harmon]

05:58 PM on 02/16/2013

I think he's talking about a CHILD not a baby. If he's talking about a 5 year old as a woman that is disturbing. Also, I don't think breast feeding in public is gross I think it seems dangerous there are a lot of creeps these days. I'd do it in the bathroom or pump. I just think bad things could happen. I understand there are cultures that focus on modesty. It could offend some people. People who get offended tend to be closer to acting out violently. Yea I don't think its safe.

[Brittney05]

09:36 PM on 07/19/2012

First of all, that picture at the top isnt even of Kasey, he drives for Farmers....clearly this isnt him! Kasey is a stand up guy and very down to earth, he wouldnt post something like this on his twitter account. And that isnt even from his twitter...ya know there are such things as impostors, and fake twitter accounts. People that have nothing better to do than try and get someone in trouble...especially when it comes to famous people. If you dont know Kasey personally, dont pass judgement!!!!!!

[OriginalRecipe]

11:27 AM on 03/04/2012

First of all, as a public figure Kahne is clearly an idiot for choosing to tweet his opinion on this topic. Second, is there really anybody out there that doesn't know that the biological purpose of breasts are for feeding children? All of these enraged Moms keep posting "that's what they're for!!!" and I don't think that anyone, even Kahne, needs them to point that out. Lastly, breastfeeding is a natural and logical choice when it comes to nourishing your infant. There are many health and economic benefits to it. However, as a woman myself, I don't know that I find feeding a child in a supermarket a logical decision. It doesn't seem particularly sanitary (any more than a bathroom) or convenient. In fact, it seems almost deliberate; an attempt to provoke a reaction. Was Kahne's reaction childish? Absolutely. Was the mother's behavior any better? Not really.

[dbrett480]

05:49 PM on 01/21/2012

I think he was joking. Most people don't have an issue with breastfeeding in public, they just don't know how to react.

[Mommy4Boys]

11:04 AM on 01/04/2012

A woman breastfeeding has, most of, if not the entire nipple in the child's mouth. Less breast is exposed than you would likely see otherwise. How does a flash of nipple logically result in a loss of appetite and an inability to shop for a healthy adult man? Kasey's immature, overly sensitive, or sexist if he cannot tolerate seeing a breast used for a purpose outside of sex.

Do you eat with a blanket over your head? Babies don't want to either. They don't want rubbers nipple and many nursing babies are reluctant to drink from bottles, especially with Mommy right there. It doesn't make sense to pump milk when a baby can do it just fine on his own.

The problem with women's breast having been deemed sexual objects is the association of perversion. I have never heard of a man attacking a woman because he was so excited by her breastfeeding in public. Can you relay even an anecdotal story of such an incident? I'm curious about the roving packs of perverts that you're trying to protect breastfeeding mother's from by shaming and degrading a natural activity with proven benefits to both she and the child.

Grow up. If you're unable to communicate to your child appropriate behavior, let me help with some generally accepted premises. Woman inserts boob infant's mouth in public = appropriate behavior. Woman publicly inserts boob into man's mouth/own mouth/soup/gravy bowl = inappropriate behavior in most foreseeable circumstances.

[usmelllikepee]

02:58 PM on 01/04/2012

Your kid is your problem, not the public's. Feed your kid at home or get a sitter if you can't show enough discretion to use a quiet nursing station. Just because you think your post-pregnancy body is beautiful and natural doesn't mean everyone else does. If breast are so natural then why do you bother wearing bras or shirts at all? Cover it up or go home. No one wants to see it.

[eribeck79]

10:24 PM on 01/04/2012

based on your username, i'd guess you have a pretty low opinion of other people and thus their needs are unimportant to you. babies need to eat, and in real life, people don't have the luxury of spending money to pay a sitter so their baby can eat at home. get real. and you act as if "private nursing stations" are widely available. i have seen three in my life, all were corners of a public bathroom... gross.

and other people's kids do become the public's problem: when they aren't breastfed and low-income moms still have to feed them, it's the public who is paying for that formula. it's the public who is helping foot the medical bill since kids who aren't breastfed are more likely to be sick more often. breastfeeding makes for a healthy society, so if you care about humanity in general, children are the business of the public. it's a selfish attitude indeed to scoff at parents and pass of their kids as their problems... i mean, how do you think all of us got here? we were all infants once.

[Arielle Rossignol]

12:08 AM on 05/01/2012

Your comment stems from a place of obvious immaturity and I would bet you have no children of your own and know nothing of what is and isn't good for an infant. As long as a woman is being discreet about breastfeeding when in public, meaning she is only opening her shirt enough for the baby to feed, the is almost non of the breast that shows. Your comment makes it sound like breastfeeding moms walk around with their shirts open and their breast hanging out which is untrue. Every time i have witnessed public nursing the woman has been almost completely covered. Besides not everyone can afford a sitter or formula. Please educate yourself next time you want to comment on an issue.

[itsmegp46]

09:59 PM on 01/08/2012

Maybe he's a closet gay. A nipple?!?!?! Ewwwww ewwwwww! Icky poo!!!!

[splinters9]

08:19 PM on 01/02/2012

Hey lady...take your ugly kid and uglier boob back to the barn where milking is suppose to conducted. I'm with Kasey on this one.

[eribeck79]

02:42 PM on 01/03/2012

barn? because apparently cows are the only mammals that lactate...

[Taxandria]

11:51 PM on 02/24/2012

Yeah all the women in porn should be in barns too with their big ugly boobs hanging out all over the place messing up the landscape.

[Claudio Lessa]

08:35 AM on 01/02/2012

Souls at various stages of underdevelopment are everywhere. Some incarnate as presidents, some as race car drivers, some as drug traffickers, some as child abusers... And life goes on.

[All Seeing Guy]

09:58 PM on 01/02/2012

"Some incarnate as presidents­, some as race car drivers, some as drug trafficker­s, some as child abusers... "

Some as whiny privileged parents with a boob hanging out, plowing through the supermarket slamming into people's ankles with some mega-stroller.

[Taxandria]

11:52 PM on 02/24/2012

A guy who doesn't like breasts. Interesting.

[movintoEurope]

11:22 PM on 01/01/2012

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you get to breast feed in public, provided I get to stare at your mammalian protuberance. Hey, I never said I was French.

[Meyou2]

12:48 AM on 01/02/2012

Yeah stare away and feel ashamed you were never breastfed hence your very idiotic post!

[Taxandria]

11:52 PM on 02/24/2012

So trying to get turned in by an infant eating is kinda Pedo really.

[MarcEdward]

09:04 PM on 01/01/2012

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[MarcEdward]

08:58 PM on 01/01/2012

I bet he'd be OK with people smoking in a supermarket

[Dawn96741]

12:38 AM on 01/01/2012

Apparently @KnittingRad Deana P, can dish it out but can't take it. She slams his fans and laughs that she blocked them. She tweets that she has never deleted a tweet but HIDES behind an initial instead of her full name. WHAT A COWARD!!!! She has now "protected" her account so no one can see her vile hate filled comments. She was whining that she had no idea it would get this bad and wants it "to go away. WHAT?? TOO LATE!!!

What about the damage she caused for Kasey professionally and publicly? He's paid a steep price for his lapse in judgement, publicly and professionally. She can remain anonymous.To those who said they can no longer be his fans, let's hope they never do anything wrong and regret it. They were never a true fan if they abandon him for this. His true fans will stick by him through all his ups and downs.
What she needs to do if she TRULY wants this to stop is post her apology on Kasey's fb page. She did on her twitter page, half heartedly, but who sees it unless you go to her page which is now blocked. AND since she's savvy enough to have contacted the news wire, do so w/ her apology. She needs to admit that she was wrong as well, he did.

[Mojito]

11:25 AM on 01/02/2012

The reason she deleted her account was because of death threats from people like you. Get a life...

[PeeWeesHerman]

02:01 PM on 12/31/2011

Welcome to America.....where we are in the process of teaching everyone to express only those thoughts that are politically-correct and approved by the masses....stay tuned for more instructions....

[Mommy4Boys]

11:11 AM on 01/04/2012

While the First Amendment protects free speech, it does not protect people from the social consequences of exercising that right. That's the point of allowing public speech to regulate itself. You have a right to say something offensive, inaccurate, or stupid. But then you have to be prepared that someone with an opposing view - who may feel more strongly about an issue than you do - will speak out against you, whether in a logical or illogical way. Kahne exercised his right to free speech - hence he cannot be sued or jailed - and now he's suffering the consequences.

[Dheffernan]

01:41 PM on 12/31/2011

I'm glad to see that this has caused such a fuss. Hopefully it gets people talking, and hopefully some people who are ignorant on the benefits of breastfeeding and/or raising an infant/baby will learn something. Breastfeeding is not gross, it is natural, that is what breasts are for despite what American society tells you. Babies get hungry and at the most inopprotune times and mothers need to feed them. Bottle feeding is not an adequate alternative to breastfeeding regardless of if it is pumped milk. Breast milk is kept at the perfect temperature, and the benefits that come from the bonding between mother and baby benefit both of their mental and physical health. And by suggesting that mothers use a quiet change room/nursing room/bathroom, even assuming one is available, continues to perpetuate this idea that breastfeeding is disgusting and should be hidden away. For the health of babies, mothers and society in general, get over your selves, if you don't want to see a woman breastfeed, don't watch her breastfeed.

[mrsL]

12:53 PM on 12/31/2011

He needs a serious education on breastfeeding - as do a lot of people. Maybe this will make him more sensitive to breastfeeding mothers and their children.

[Dheffernan]

01:43 PM on 12/31/2011

You would hope, but I doubt it, it will just make him think before he tweets something. I think it will take him raising his own infant who cries uncontrollably at the grocery store out of hunger to perhaps get him to realize that babies need to eat when they want to.

[madcityy]

12:32 PM on 12/31/2011

THIS DRIVER IS AGAINST MOMS????????????????????

WHAT A LOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN,,,,,,,MAY HE LOSE FOREVER...