Jimmy Kimmel would accept an apology from “ignorant” Aaron Rodgers for his “damaging” Jeffrey Epstein allegations, but he doesn’t expect to receive one.
Kimmel, 56, laid into Rodgers, 40, during the opening monologue of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, January 8, catching viewers up to speed on what went down between the duo earlier this month.
“Did you hear this story about me and Aaron Rodgers, the former quarterback for the Packers?” Kimmel said. “So, what happened is — he’s the Jets quarterback now — he went on a show on ESPN, The Pat McAfee Show, and out of the blue insinuated that I was nervous because the Jeffrey Epstein list was coming out. He said I was hoping it wouldn’t, and that he was going to pop a bottle of something to celebrate when he did.”
Kimmel noted that he “of course” had no connection to the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 after being arrested on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors. “I don’t know Jeffrey Epstein, I’ve never met Jeffrey Epstein, I’m not on the list, I wasn’t on a plane or an island or anything ever and I suggested that if Aaron wanted to make false and very damaging statements like that we should do it in court so he could share his proof with, like, a judge,” he continued. “Because, you know, when you hear a guy who won a Super Bowl and did all the State Farm commercials say something like this, a lot of people believe it.”
Kimmel predicted that Rodgers “believes one of two things. Either he actually believes my name was gonna 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.”
The late-night host argued that Rodgers is “particularly upset” with him for roasting his “wacko idea that the UFO sightings that were in the news in February were being reported to distract us from the Epstein list,” going on to show a clip of his previous jokes.
Kimmel hinted that Rodgers’ claims were to “retaliate” for being “mocked,” but he wasn’t too worried. “I spent years doing sports. I’ve seen guys like him before,” Kimmel continued. “Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself. Because he had success on a football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he’s smarter than everybody else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him. We learned during COVID somehow he knows more about science than scientists.” (Rodgers previously claimed he wanted to do his own “research” about the vaccine and argued that NFL vaccination guidelines were made in an attempt to “shame people.”)
Rodgers “put on a magic helmet” when he joined the Green Bay Packers in 2005 “and that ‘G’ made him a genius,” Kimmel teased, adding that the only two As Rodgers ever got on a report card “were both in the word Aaron.”
“Can you imagine that this hamster-brained man knows what the government is up to because he’s a quarterback doing research on YouTube and listening to podcasts? … Aaron Rodgers is too arrogant to know how ignorant he is,” he said. “They let him host Jeopardy! for two weeks. Now he knows everything.”
Kimmel emphasized that he doesn’t believe athletes “should stick to talking about sports,” but he acknowledged that there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. “I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants. But saying someone is a pedophile isn’t an opinion nor is it trash talk,” he explained, asserting that “the truth still matters” and that the jokes he makes on his talk show are “not even close to the same” as the accusations Rodgers made.
“And when I do get something wrong, which happens on rare occasions, you know what I do? I apologize for it,” Kimmel said. “Which is what Aaron Rodgers should do. Which is what a decent person would do. But I bet he won’t. If he does, you know what I’ll do, I’ll accept his apology and move on. But he probably won’t do that.”
Kimmel previously slammed Rodgers in a tweet shared on January 2 following Rodgers’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court. @AaronRodgers12,” he wrote.
Rodgers did not engage with Kimmel’s tweet, but he hinted during a press conference on Monday that he would address the situation in an upcoming conversation with Pat McAfee. “Tune in,” he told reporters.
McAfee, for his part, admitted that Rodgers, a regular on his show, may have gone too far.
“I can see exactly how Jimmy Kimmel felt especially with his position, but I think Aaron was trying to talk s–t. Now, did it go too far? Jimmy Kimmel certainly said that was the case,” McAfee said on January 3. “We obviously don’t like to be associated with anything negative ever. We’d like our show to be an uplifting one, a happy one, a fun one, but it’s because we talk s–t and try to make light of everything.”
