Summary
- Chip Gaines made comments — which fans labeled insensitive — about money during a Twitter exchange on basketball coaching openings.
- Some fans were upset by Chip's remarks, finding them out of touch with the public's concerns about money.
- Basketball fans were largely unaware of Chip's identity, finding his involvement in the discussion humorous yet irrelevant.
Chip and Joanna Gaines have been beloved by fans since they debuted on HGTV, but as is the case with just about every celebrity, they have their critics, too. Over the years, some of the couple's actions have divided fans, from the Gaines' affiliation with an anti-gay church to a lawsuit that flew under the radar despite Chip and Joanna's fame.
Even after years in the spotlight, Chip and Joanna still make some missteps, including some they admit to. Once, Chip even worried he would be sued after an impromptu announcement during a Jimmy Fallon interview.
However, Chip seemed to loosen up a bit while chatting with others on social media, but it didn't earn him any fans. Here's what Chip Gaines said on social media that upset his followers, what Chip's response was to the drama, and what basketball fans thought of it all.
HGTV's Chip Gaines Made Insensitive Comments About Money On X
Chip Gaines tweeted about basketball and upset some followers
During an X (formerly Twitter) back-and-forth about a coaching opening with the Kentucky Wildcats, Chip Gaines made comments that left some followers scratching their heads. Ultimately, the job was filled by Mark Pope, but many speculated that Scott Drew, the Baylor Bears head coach, was in the running for the gig.
Gaines, a Baylor fan, got quite involved in X discourse about the possibility of Scott Drew leaving his team after some users joked about the Gaineses possibly swaying Drew to turn down the Kentucky opportunity (if, in fact, he was even considering — or had received — an offer).
Barstool Kentucky (@BarstoolUK) posted a photo of Joanna and Chip with the caption, "Keep these two away from Scott Drew for the next 48 hours," suggesting that the couple's influence could dash any hopes of Drew leaving Waco.
Given that Chip and Joanna run many businesses in town and are credited with having fixed up Waco, the joke appeared to be that they would throw money at Scott Drew to keep him around.
Interestingly, Chip Gaines decided to reply to various tweets, and though he seemed to be joking, some of his comments ruffled fans' feathers. For one thing, Chip replied to one comment that asked "Who tf is @chipgaines" by asking if the X user kissed their mom with that mouth, following up with, "ask her who I am, she'll know."
If it was an attempt at a yo mama joke, admittedly, that was tame. However, it was a tweet about money, specifically, that had HGTV fans upset. In response to one tweet from @ZaynePeay that said, "You don’t wanna go band for band with us Chip 💰💰💰💰💰," Chip replied that, "Money is boring.. everybody's got money."
Gaines also added that, "We've got God on our side," with a star and winky-face emoji. While anyone outside of basketball might not have caught the exchange, Chip's reaction to the 'drama' was surprising, given how out of touch his comments about money were, according to fans.
"Chip Gaines has always creeped me out. How out of touch can you be? I guess his ‘God’ made him filthy rich."
Various retweets and replies dragged Chip for being "out of touch" and letting his "filthy rich" lifestyle color his interactions with the general public. One X user wrote, "Said by someone who doesn’t have to worry about money."
Chip, perhaps digging himself in deeper in his self-designed pit of criticism, replied to that comment with an offer to send the user "something to help out" if they followed his assistant on X.
Chip Seemed To Enjoy Razzing X Users
Chip even shared an article about his "going to WAR with Kentucky fans"
After the X exchange, Chip shared a piece from Bro Bible that labeled the entire situation hilarious and shared his responses to Barstool Kentucky's original post and some of the replies.
That piece left out the commentary on Chip's statements about money, though it did quote him. For context, there have been scenarios where coaches pulled out of job offers because of changes to financial packages.
"Money is boring when you have tons of it, but what about the poor that Jesus championed? What about compassion and trying to help the helpless?"
The overall theme of the X scuffle was that Baylor fans wanted to keep their coach, while Kentucky fans hoped he'd be swayed by whatever offer was on the table.
Still, many tweets from people who know Chip and Joanna from Fixer Upper and other HGTV projects criticized Chip for suggesting that money was no big thing, though he seemed to be referring to the fact that Scott Drew couldn't be swayed by money to leave his beloved team.
In contrast, basketball fans had different thoughts.
Basketball Fans Largely Asked "New Era, Who Dis?" After Chip's Tweets
Many basketball fans thought the scenario was hilarious, but didn't know who Chip was
Like a handful of commenters on X, basketball fans discussing Scott Drew's potential career move on Reddit were largely unfamiliar with Fixer Upper. Many thought the situation was funny, but the LOLs were interspersed with questions about who Chip was. One Redditor joked, "Anyone who doesn't know who Chip is definitely wasn't a married homeowner in the mid 2010's lol."
Another answered the question of who Chip was by answering, "God's handyman."
"Man I love your show and all, and I absolutely get joking about basketball – but this tweet is not cool. The majority of people in this country worry about money because they don’t have enough of it."
In general, the consensus seemed to be — from basketball fans — that Chip was being funny yet irrelevant in the conversation. In contrast, HGTV fans were largely bothered by his comments about money, finding them distasteful and even offensive.
