“That Was Not Hoosier Hospitality”: Why John Mellencamp Left Pacers Game Embarrassed To Be From Indiana

Public embarrassment of any kind is hard to stomach, but it can be even worse when you’re an easily recognizable celebrity, which John Mellencamp was starkly reminded of after leaving a Pacers game feeling ashamed to be from Indiana. And listen—as someone who spent most of their child- and teen-hood growing up in Indiana, then moving to Kentucky, an equally mockable state, I get it.

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But Mellencamp, the man who helped define Heartland rock even if he doesn’t like the term, didn’t feel embarrassment about the state itself, its soybean fields for as far as the eye can see, or its Hoosier nickname. He felt shame over what he perceived as a clear lack of Midwestern hospitality at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Why John Mellencamp Left Pacers Game Embarrassed To Be From Indiana

John Mellencamp is a lifelong hoosier. He grew up in Seymour, Indiana, attended Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana, and cut his teeth playing bar gigs around the state in popular college towns like Bloomington, home of the main campus of Indiana University. (Fun fact: my high school choir teacher saw him at one of those gigs in Bloomington when Mellencamp was still “Johnny Cougar.” I digress.) Simply put, he has deep roots in the Midwestern flyover state. So, when he felt like actions at a May 2025 Pacers vs. Knicks game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse represented the state poorly, he left, delivering an apology online “on behalf of most Hoosiers.”

For some context: Mellencamp attended the Indiana Pacers’ home game against the New York Knicks on May 27, 2025. Mellencamp’s home team won 130 to 121, which should have been a point of pride for the long-time resident. But as he wrote in a since-deleted tweet, Mellencamp said, “Somebody, under whose direction I don’t know, called out some of the people who had made the trip from New York to support their team and, in turn, support our team. The audience booed these people.”

“I’d say that was not Hoosier Hospitality,” Mellencamp continued, per the Los Angeles Times. “One could only say it’s poor, poor sportsmanship. I was not proud to be a Hoosier, and I’ve lived here my entire life. On behalf of most Hoosiers, I would like to apologize.”

So, Who Made The Singer So Ashamed Of His Home State?

John Mellencamp’s strong words on social media would have been enough to cause the online community to start scouring videos and tweets to figure out who the singer-songwriter was talking about. But luckily for internet sleuths everywhere, they didn’t have to. ESPN personality Pat McAfee shared Mellencamp’s tweet that same day, writing, “I am ‘somebody.’”

Indeed, it was McAfee who called out New York Knicks fans and fellow celebrities Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, and Timothée Chalamet. Hyping up the crowd, McAfee told the hometown fans to “send these sons of b****** back to New York with their ears ringing.”

For whatever it’s worth, some of the celebrities who bore the brunt of McAfee’s commentary, like Stiller, said he assumed the sports personality was simply “playing around.” Nevertheless, it was enough to shake up Mellencamp, who sat on his feelings for several days before making his since-deleted post.

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