The ESPN soap opera took another twist Tuesday when Aaron Rodgers made his first comments after implying that Jimmy Kimmel’s name would be found on a list of associates connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019.
During his regular weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers declined to apologize to Kimmel. He also denied he was accusing the comedian of pedophilia and said he’s happy Kimmel’s name was not on the list. (What Rodgers previously said: “A lot of people including Jimmy Kimmel are hoping it doesn’t come out. … If that list comes out, I will definitely be popping some sort of bottle.”)
“I’m not stupid enough to accuse [Kimmel] of that with absolutely zero concrete evidence. That’s ridiculous,” Rodgers said. But Rodgers added that ESPN executive Mike Foss exacerbated the situation by telling Front Office Sports the New York Jets quarterback made a “dumb and factually incorrect joke” about Kimmel.
“How many people actually watched the clip—and how many people just saw a headline?” asked Rodgers. “I don’t think Mike Foss watched the clip. I don’t know who that is. I don’t work for you, Mike.”
“This is the game plan of the media, this is what they do … they try and cancel,” Rodgers said.
Last Tuesday, Kimmel threatened to sue Rodgers over the comments. On last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the comedian ripped the four-time NFL MVP as a “hamster-brained” jock “too arrogant to know how ignorant he is.”
McAfee apologized to Kimmel for his role in the controversy last Wednesday. But Kimmel also took aim at the former NFL punter for claiming Rodgers was “just trying to talk s—” on his show.
“I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants,” Kimmel said on Monday. “But saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion. Nor is it trash talk—sorry, Pat McAfee.” ESPN declined to comment on Tuesday’s Rodgers-McAfee interview.
The Rodgers-Kimmel-McAfee beef has opened a corporate “can of worms” inside the Walt Disney Co., say sources. The entertainment giant owns both ABC and ESPN. Kimmel and McAfee are two of the company’s highest-paid talents, earning $15 million a year apiece. Meanwhile, the sports media business is still buzzing over McAfee’s’ Howard Stern-like attack on Norby Williamson, ESPN’s powerful executive editor and head of event and studio production.
McAfee blasted Williamson as a “rat” trying to sabotage his show on Friday. On Monday, the former WWE personality stood by his comments about “old hags” like Williamson, who’s worked at ESPN since 1985. But McAfee said his relationship with ESPN was still strong. He denied trying to force his way out of the Worldwide Leader only five months after his show’s debut.
“There’s certainly people we do not like, certainly,” he said. “And they do not like us. That’s how it’s gonna be, and I don’t take back anything that I said about said person.”
