New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, addressing a comment he made on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week, said Tuesday he was not accusing comedian Jimmy Kimmel of appearing on an unreleased client list of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Appearing once again on the ESPN show, Rodgers said he wanted “move on” from his ongoing feud with Kimmel, who threatened to sue the quarterback for implying he was somehow connected to Epstein.
“I clearly understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be, ” said Aaron Rodgers, during a 9-minute, 33-second monologue to begin his weekly show appearance. “For (Kimmel) to be upset about it, I get it. Did you watch the quote? Because that’s exactly what I said. Verbatim. … I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence.”
The so-called Epstein “list” is actually a set of court documents from a 2015 defamation case tied to Epstein, a multi-millionaire businessman who was charged with sex trafficking. It was believed the documents, which were recently unsealed, would include the names of Epstein’s clients and associates.
“I clearly understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be. For (Kimmel) to be upset about it, I get it. Did you watch the quote? Because that’s exactly what I said. Verbatim. … I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence.”
Aaron Rodgers
On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the ABC late-night talks show host, who went off on Aaron Rodgers during his opening monologue Monday night, said the quarterback was “an overly concussed wacko” for believing in the existence of an Epstein list existed.
That led to Rodgers’ comment on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week, in which he said the following: “A lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, are really hoping that doesn’t come out.”
The presence of a list, Rodgers explained, would mean that he was right about it being real.
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Aaron Rodgers: ‘Glad (Jimmy Kimmel) is not on the list’
Aaron Rodgers, who missed all but four plays of the 2023 NFL regular season with a torn Achilles tendon, said he hoped the two could “agree on something,” that “those crimes are heinous … (and) at minimum there should be an inquiry into their involvement … and at maximum there should be an investigation into it.
“I hope you will give the same type of energy to these heinous crimes when they do come out, and names do come out, and there is an inquiry into it that you gave to other subjects.”
Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP while with the Green Bay Packers, spent time documenting the history of his beef with Kimmel, which goes back to “COVID times” and began when Kimmel make jokes on his show about Rodgers being unvaccinated status.
Rodgers, who attended Cal for three semesters before he was drafted into the NFL, said Kimmel and others in what the quarterback called “the woke establishment” have questioned his intelligence and called him a variety of names, everything from a “soft-brained, junior college student” to an “anti-Semite,” and a “spreader of misinformation.”
In the end, Rodgers said he was “all for moving forward” and ending the feud with Kimmel. But not without one final dig.
“I’m glad that Jimmy is not on the list, I really am,” Rodgers said. “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.”