Aaron Rodgers says he never called Jimmy Kimmel a pedophile and is 'glad' the host isn't on the Jeff

Publish date: 2024-08-11
2024-01-09T19:59:34Z

Aaron Rodgers responded after Jimmy Kimmel blasted him for his recent comments suggesting that the late-night host might be associated with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On the January 2 episode of "The Pat McAfee Show," the New York Jets quarterback briefly spoke about the anticipated release of the names of Epstein associates. There isn't an actual list, but rather unsealed court documents that started rolling out on Wednesday, January 3. As Business Insider's Jacob Shamsian reported, the names of more than 170 of Epstein's associates and the identities of some of his victims appear in the documents.

"There's a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping that doesn't come out," Rodgers said on the show. "If that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle," he added.

Hours later, Kimmel denied Rodgers' accusation on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"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," Kimmel wrote. "Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court."

Kimmel then used the opening monologue of Monday night's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to again deny any connection to Epstein, saying: "I've never met Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not on the list, I wasn't on a plane or an island or anything ever."

Kimmel went on to take aim at Rodgers' intelligence and past controversial comments about the COVID-19 vaccine. He said that Rodgers is entitled to express his opinions, but "saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash talk."

"The truth still matters," Kimmel went on to say. "And 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. If he does, you know what I'll do? I'll accept his apology and move on. But he probably won't do that."

Rodgers responded to Kimmel during an appearance on the second hour of ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday, saying that he wanted to comment on the controversy and "move on," and emphasized that he never called Kimmel a pedophile.

"I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be. So for him to be upset about that, I get it," Rodgers said. Rodgers stopped short of issuing a mea culpa, however.

"I'm not stupid enough, even though you think I'm an idiot and you've made a lot of comments about my intelligence, but I'm not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero concrete evidence," he continued. "That's ridiculous."

Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel have a history of feuding. Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

"I'm glad that Jimmy is not on the list," he said. "I really am, and I don't think he's the P-word, and I think it's impressive that a man who went to Arizona State and has 10 joke writers can read off a prompter."

"I wish him the best," Rodgers added. "I don't give a shit what he says about me, but as long as he understands what I actually said and that I'm not accusing him of being on a list, then I'm all for moving forward."

The NFL star also said that he fully condemns name-calling of any kind, especially allegations of Kimmel being a pedophile.

"Those are serious accusations meant for people who are on the list," he said. "And again, there were some names that came out recently from a deposition from 2005, but there's still flight logs, there's still a lot of other things that are going to come out. And this corruption goes deep."

"But I'm not calling him one," Rodgers reiterated. "No one should. Don't do it in my name. That's not cool. I'm not about that. And I have no love for anybody doing any of that shit."

Insider has reached out to reps for Rodgers and Kimmel for comment.

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