A triumphant moment for Prince Harry was shrouded in controversy.
On Thursday, stars gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 2024 ESPY Awards, honoring top athletes and people who give back to their community. One of the special honoree awards is the Pat Tillman Award for Service, which recognizes “a person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy” of Pat Tillman.
Pat Tillman was a safety for the Arizona Cardinals who gave up his NFL career and a $3.6 million contract after September 11, 2001, to serve as an Army Ranger. He was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004, in Afghanistan, though the Army did not reveal how Pat died for over a month after his death, NPR reported.
ESPN and the Pat Tillman Foundation selected Prince Harry to win the award for 2024 because of his work with the Invictus Games. However, the announcement was quickly met with criticism.
Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The Invictus Games are a worldwide sporting competition for injured veterans. Following his two tours in Afghanistan as a pilot for the British Armed Forces, Harry became a founding patron of the Invictus Games.
The Games celebrated their 10th anniversary in May, and 23 nations are now represented at them each year.
On June 27, ESPN announced Harry would receive the Pat Tillman Award “in honor of his tireless work in making a positive impact for the veteran community through the power of sport.”
Pat’s mother, Mary Tillman, told the Daily Mail shortly after the announcement that she was “shocked” ESPN planned to give the award to the royal.
“I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” she told the outlet. “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.”
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections, or privilege that Prince Harry has,” Mary added. “I feel that those types of individuals should be recognized.”
Mary does not work for the Pat Tillman Foundation or play a role in deciding who wins the annual award. A Change.org petition urging ESPN to reconsider giving Harry the award also gained traction online, amassing over 76,000 signatures as of Friday.
Harry received similar criticism when he was awarded the Living Legend of Aviation Award in January.