The move to grant Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards night on Wednesday undeniably caused quite a controversy not only among sports enthusiasts but in the society as whole. While a number of critics disagreed with the decision, it appears that the family of the disputed awardee stand firm behind her. In an effort to demonstrate their love and support for Caitlyn, the children of then Bruce Jenner all gathered during the ceremony and even matching outfits to mark the special occasion, according to Time.
"I think it's an incredible honor and I think there were many deserving people that could of got this award and I think Caitlyn was the perfect one and we are here to support her and we are all very happy," Brody told E Online during his red carpet interview. The "Sex With Brody" star added, "It's an incredible moment for all of us to be here and share this moment." Apart from the words of support regarding the award, Brody also imparted his advice to Caitlyn before her big acceptance speech. He said, "I would say DO YOU." Brody added, "That's all I would say before she walked on stage. DO YOU!"
In addition to Brody, Caitlyn's special night was punctuated by the attendance of his children including "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" stars Kylie and Kendall Jenner. Also present in the ceremony were Caitlyn's stepchildren with Kris Jenner, namely, Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian. Kylie posted a picture of the brood via Instagram which showed everyone wearing black ensemble.
Prior to Caitlyn, the ESPY Award had been granted to notable personalities including Billie Jean King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali. While a number of critics expressed their dismay over the decision to award the ESPY to Caitlyn, others truly support the move.
Rick Burton, the former chief marketing officer for the US Olympic Committee, believe that the decision spoke volumes in terms of breaching the gap between both genders. Burton said via NBC News that Caitlyn is "possibly this first crossover athlete who had massive, massive fame and visibility in one gender, and now probably equaling it in a second gender." He added, "That is pretty amazing."
Joel McHale, the host of this year's ESPYs Awards, echoed the sentiments of Burton. "As far as the deservingness of the award for Caitlyn, there's no doubt that her accomplishments in the '70s were enormous," he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. McHale added, "She probably was the most famous athlete next to Muhammad Ali."
The host then went on to say that Caitlyn's feat of winning the decathlon is " nothing short of incredible." He continued to say, "And clearly, after gender reassignment, the whole thing becomes a much bigger story." However, the "Community" star also acknowledged that the decision to choose Caitlyn was "obviously very divisive," clarifying that his stand on the issue does not hold water among the committee members who chose Caitlyn. He said, "I'm not in charge of giving these awards away. But if somebody did what she did in the '70s, then I'm like, well, of course. And what she did to become a woman was very courageous. I can't imagine it was an easy thing."
