ESPN host and former NFL player Pat McAfee continues to battle with a network executive over his alleged “sabotage” of “The Pat McAfee Show.”
On Friday, McAfee said ESPN Head of Studio Production Norby Williamson was leaking fake news about his broadcast to the press.
“There are some people actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN,” the former NFL punter said. “More specifically, I believe Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program.”
McAfee also called Williamson “a rat.”
After controversy erupted, McAfee addressed these remarks on Monday. “There was some comments about a particular person at ESPN that I only made on the YouTube and ESPN+ show. It wasn’t on linear TV,” McAfee said. His Friday broadcast was part of a time slot that does not air on ESPN cable. “I didn’t know anyone was going to hear it.”
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McAfee made it clear he “loves” ESPN’s President of Content Burke Magnus, who he said was made to look bad “because of what I did and how I did it.” He also said he had love for ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Disney CEO Bob Iger. (Disney acquired ESPN in 1996, and under Iger’s leadership Disney is looking to court outside investors to help the network transition from TV to streaming.)
He went on to say he takes nothing back:
“Lot of people were saying I’m trying to get fired. No way. What ESPN has been able to do for us … we’ve got nothing but love for all of these people. Now, there’s certainly people we do not like. Certainly. And they don’t like us. That’s how it’s going to be. And I don’t take back anything that I said about said person.
But the overall storyline about us and ESPN, I think people need to remember, we’re strong baby. We are strong, baby. And we all understand what the future looks like. There’s just some old hags that potentially don’t. But we will move forward to that.”
We will continue to move forward.#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Ax9vzeaMLM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 8, 2024
McAfee’s show has become notorious for giving a platform to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, on which he has made a number of provocative comments such as calling Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer.” Most recently, Rodgers decided to allege on “The McAfee Show” that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is affiliated with disgraced billionaire and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Last Tuesday, the 2nd of January, Rodgers discussed the upcoming release of documents related to the Epstein case, and remarked: “There’s a lot of people including Jimmy Kimmel who’s really hoping that doesn’t come out.” He added: “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I’ll definitely be popping some sort of bottle.”
Kimmel responded with a post on X trashing Rodgers, calling him an “Aasshole [sic]” while denying the allegations.
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
Then, Kimmel decided to hit Rodgers again on Monday during a monologue on his show. He brought up Rodgers’ comment and said:
“And then it did come out and, of course, my name isn’t on it … I don’t know Jeffrey Epstein, I’ve never met Jeffrey Epstein, I’m not on a list, I wasn’t on a plane or an island or anything ever.
A lot of delusional people honestly believe I am meeting up with Tom Hanks and Oprah at Shakey’s once a week to eat pizza and drink the blood of children.
Either he actually believes my name was going to be on Epstein’s list, which is insane, or the more likely scenario is he doesn’t actually believe that, he just said it because he’s mad at me for making fun of his top knot and his lies about being vaccinated.”
Kimmel invited Rodgers to apologize for his remarks, and said he would “accept his apology and move on.”
“When I do get something wrong, which happens on rare occasions. You know what I do? I apologize for it, which is what Aaron Rodgers should do, which is what a decent person would do, but I bet he won’t,” he added.
Kimmel and Rodgers have been trading insults since November 2021 over the COVID-19 vaccine. Kimmel previously called Rodgers a “whack Packer” in 2023 for implying on “The Pat McAfee Show” that there was a link between news reports of UFO sightings and the Epstein case.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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