New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been suspended from Pat McAfee’s ESPN show following a controversial comment he made about Jimmy Kimmel and a weekend of turmoil.
McAfee announced the news on Wednesday, according to The Athletic. He said Rodgers was “done” as a guest on his show for the rest of the season, saying it was part a previously-scheduled seasonal termination, but added that he was “pumped” he would not have to deal with any more fallout from his controversial comments.
Rodgers had joked on a previous episode of “the Pat McAfee Show” that the forthcoming Jeffrey Epstein court documents had a lot of people nervous, “including Jimmy Kimmel.” The late night talk show host lashed out at Rodgers on X and threatened him with a lawsuit.
Dear Aasshole: 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… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024
Kimmel also delivered a monologue about the comments on his show, and invited Rodgers to apologize. McAfee had apologized on-air to Kimmel on Rodger’s behalf, and said “We apologize for being a part of it.”
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That was evidently not enough. On Wednesday, McAfee said in the interests of moving on from the situation they were barring Rodgers from coming on the show in the future. He went on:
“Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer. He’s a four-time MVP. He’s a massive piece of the NFL story whenever you go back and tell it. He will be a huge part of it. We are very lucky to get a chance to chat with him and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions do piss off a lot of people. I’m pumped that that is no longer every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks.
On Friday I obviously threw us into the fire as well. I forever stand by that. Everything else, though, just can’t do that and not what we want to be known for.”
JUST IN: Aaron Rodgers is suspended from appearing on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" for the rest of the season after his beef with 'comedian' Jimmy Kimmel.
Rodgers p*ssed off a lot of people. Good.
McAfee said he was "happy" Rodgers wouldn't be back on the show because of all… pic.twitter.com/57ho5hl6A6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 10, 2024
McAfee had made headlines over the weekend for insulting an ESPN executive, accusing him of trying to sabotage his show. When his comments blew up, McAfee addressed it live and said he took nothing back, but made it clear he is not against ESPN’s leadership at large.
A writer at the New York Times nevertheless argues that McAfee’s on-air insults aimed at the executive represents a power shift as ESPN transitions from cable to streaming. McAfee acknowledged this in his comments, too, referring to the network’s “old hags” who hate people like himself, who “understand what the future looks like.”
Valuetainment founder and CEO Patrick Bet-David weighed in on the matter:
Disappointed by McAfee’s approach!
Disney/ESPN won.
Aaron Rodgers suspended from "The Pat McAfee Show" after his comments on Jimmy Kimmel.
McAfee said he was "happy" Rodgers wouldn't be back on the show because of the drama it caused.
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) January 10, 2024
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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