Heather McMahan is offering some “context” following her Rory McIlroy controversy this past weekend — and no, she didn’t start the “f*** you” chant.
McMahan, 38, made headlines during the 2025 Ryder Cup after allegedly encouraging the crowd at Farmingdale, New York’s Bethplage Black Golf Course to heckle Irish golfer McIlroy, 36.
But, that’s not actually what went down, the comedian explained when discussing what she called an “international incident” during the Wednesday, October 1 episode of her “Absolutely Not” podcast.
“The crowd started to get really fratty, really intense, really quick,” McMahan recalled. “I don’t wanna speak for everybody in the crowd — there were so many wonderful people there that were being lovely — but, unfortunately, the energy and the way that the crowd moved was just, it was not the vibe.”
Essentially, McMahan “got in trouble” after members of the crowd started a “f*** you Rory” chant about McIlroy.
“I made the absolute horrible mistake of saying it back to them once,” McMahan said. “If you watch the video, I’m, kind of like, laughing to myself. Also, like question mark. F*** you, Rory? I’m like, what?”
While it was reported that McMahan had apparently started the chant, that was not the case. The comedian did admit that it was “so foolish and silly” of her to even repeat the chant back to the crowd.
“I would just like to say, I immediately did not like the energy and the vibe from when that started to happen. I will take full responsibility and sincerely apologize to Rory, Team Europe for saying that,” she continued. “I did not start the chant. I would just like that narrative to get out there.”
McMahan was hired as entertainment at the first hole during the Ryder Cup which made headlines throughout the weekend for the raucous behavior of the crowd..
“It went from us trying to be fun and funny, and like get it going, to immediately negative and felt really kind of toxic,” McMahan recalled. “So as soon as I said that, I was like, I don’t want any part of this. This is just getting weird and I don’t know how to control this crowd of 4,000 dudes at five o’clock in the morning shouting crazy s***.”
McMahan noted that she apologized to both McIlroy and the European team “immediately” after the incident. (BBC Sport published her apology on Sunday, September 28, noting that McMahan “stepped down” from hosting the first tee.)
The comedian explained that she would “never condone that behavior” from the crowd as an avid golf viewer. (Podcast listeners know McMahan attends The Masters annually.)
“The Ryder Cup’s fun, everybody’s drinking and getting drunk and having a wild time,” she said. “To turn that into a negative thing where you’re like, actively, aggressively — in a disgusting way — attacking the other team, [I] wanted no part of, was not a part of that afternoon.”
During Wednesday’s podcast episode, McMahan told listeners that the entire situation “really got blown out of proportion.” She also read comments from haters who have been calling her a “fat c***” because of the McIIroy chant.
“I just want to clear the air that it would never be my intention to be malicious, to be gross, to even put that kind of energy out there,” McMahan said. “The Ryder Cup is feral. The fans were feral. It was a brutal environment.”