Aaron Rodgers will no longer appear on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee show during the current NFL season, after sparking outrage about his claims about talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Pat McAfee praised the Super Bowl winner and four-time NFL MVP, but said he was pleased to be moving on from him.
Rodgers previously claimed that Kimmel could be one of the individuals named on the documents containing details of associates of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The comedian subsequently “denied any contact whatsoever” with the disgraced financier in a statement posted on X/Twitter, while condemning Rodgers’s “reckless words”. He also threatened to sue Rodgers.
On Wednesday, McAfee announced that the weekly segment “Aaron Rodgers Tuesday” was finished for the season, prompting applause from his staff. It is not clear if Rodgers will return for future seasons.
"So ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday,’ season 4 is done... There are going to be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included to be honest,” he said.
Rodgers previously claimed that Kimmel could be one of the individuals named on the documents containing details of associates of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein— (AP)
McAfee, who explained he has total control of his show’s creative content, appeared to say that the backlash from Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel was turning into a problem and giving "ammo" to critics of the show.
"Over the last week, we have certainly given them all a lot of stuff to get mad about and become loud about. We’ve messed up in that particular aspect," he said.
He added: "We live in country that has freedom of speech. But also you’re going to have deal with the consequences of your freedom of speech. So what I’m saying is we’ve given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo in things to attack to us for over the last week.
"We are very lucky to get a chance to chat with [Rodgers] and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions, though, do piss off a lot of people," McAfee said.
"And I’m pumped that that is no longer going to be every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks."
On Monday’s episode of his show, Kimmel delivered a seven-minute roast of ‘hamster-brained’ Rodgers.— (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Rodgers also claimed he never meant to imply Kimmel was a paedophile.
“I totally understand how serious an allegation of paedophilia would be. So him to be upset about that, I get it,” he said, in a subsequent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“I’m not stupid enough – even though you think I’m an idiot, and you’ve made a lot of comments about my intelligence – but I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence. That’s ridiculous.”
Rodgers argued that his reference to Kimmel was in fact due to the fact that the host had previously mocked him as a “tin foil hatter” in response to his remarks about UFOs and the Epstein list on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in March 2023.
On Monday’s episode of his show, Kimmel delivered a seven-minute roast of Rodgers, describing him as “hamster-brained”.
“I don’t know Jeffrey Epstein. I’ve never met Jeffrey Epstein. I was not on a list, or a plane, or an island or anything ever,” he said.
“I suggested that if Aaron wanted to make false and very damaging statements like that, that we should do it in court so he could share his proof with, like, a judge.
"This hamster-brained man thinks he knows what the government is up to because he’s a quarterback doing research on YouTube.”
An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment further on McAfee’s announcement.
