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Sports personality Pat McAfee has addressed recent comments made by Aaron Rodgers about late night television show host Jimmy Kimmel.
The remarks insinuated that Kimmel was linked to Jeffrey Epstein, which immediately made headlines throughout the sports and entertainment world.
There were a few obvious issues with the statement, the first of which revolves around Rodgers’ doubtfully having any concrete evidence on the association.
The second involves the accusation coming on ESPN airwaves regarding an ABC and Disney employee.
Here’s what Rodgers had to say on the Pat McAfee Show Tuesday morning:
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping [the Epstein client list] doesn’t come out.”
🔥🚨BREAKING: NFL New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers just said that ABC host Jimmy Kimmel will be on the Jeffrey Epstein client list while live on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/eiS3gRgCma
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) January 2, 2024
The jab came as a rebuttal to a joke made about the New York Jets quarterback on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Kimmel barked back with a post on social media in which he called the passer an “a–hole,” while also threatening legal action.
“Dear A–hole,” the tweet read. “For the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any ‘list’ other than the clearly phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
After receiving immediate backlash for Aaron Rodgers’ comments, again made on McAfee’s show, the host addressed the situation.
Pat McAfee says Aaron Rodgers was making a joke about Jimmy Kimmel.
We like our show to be an uplifting one.#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bbT65oZQNN
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 3, 2024
McAfee opened Wednesday’s show by distancing himself from and downplaying the back and forth.
“There can be something that was meant to be a s— talk joke, that can then become something that is a very serious allegation, that then leads to a massive overnight story… I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position. But I think Aaron was just trying to talk s—.”
ESPN has yet to comment on the situation, again one that involves two Disney employees.
McAfee hopes that Rodgers and Kimmel can work out their differences outside of court. Time will tell.