There may be no more unfiltered voice in sports media than Charles Barkley — and he joined many other personalities by offering his two cents on the Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel beef.
Barkley joined "CBS Mornings" on Jan. 10 and was asked about what he would do if he was in the position of Kimmel as the recipient of Rodgers' comments. The NBA legend and analyst on "NBA on TNT" did not mince words.
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"I'd have punched him in the face," Barkley said.
The "CBS Mornings" hosts chuckled at the famous jokesters comments, but Barkley seemed pretty serious about his sentiments. He explained that celebrities and athletes have to deal with criticisms, but stressed that there's a certain point when it goes too far.
"I think that when you're in the limelight, people get to say things about you — that goes with the territory," Barkley said. "But when you start comparing people and saying, "you're hanging out with pedophiles and having sex with underaged girls, that's dangerous."
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Barkley added that he doesn't have a real relationship with Rodgers, and seemed to be critical of his statement rather than him as a person.
"I don't know Aaron Rodgers," Barkley said. "He's always been cordial — I've said hello to him a couple of times. But like I said, you can make fun of celebrities, that goes with our territory. But [what Rodgers said] — that's slander."
Charles Barkley said he would've punched Aaron Rodgers in the face if the New York Jets quarterback implied he was on Jeffrey Epstein's list, like Jimmy Kimmel. pic.twitter.com/WR9MyQl91y
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 10, 2024
Barkley also said he "loved" the response from Kimmel to Rodgers, which was an over seven-minute opening to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Monday, Jan. 8.
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