UPDATE 3PM THURSDAY: Controversial New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to “The Pat McAfee Show” Thursday, just one day after the show’s host said he wouldn’t have Rodgers back as a guest this season.
“Aaron Rodgers Tuesday season four is done,” McAfee said during Wednesday’s show. “There are going to be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud.”
The Wall Street Journal reports Rodgers, a recurring guest, stirred up controversy last week by insinuating on McAfee’s show that ABC talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Kimmel denied. On Tuesday, during his next appearance on the show, Rodgers sought to clarify his earlier comments, which he said didn’t imply a connection between Kimmel and Epstein.
“I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be. So for him to be upset about that, I get it,” Rodgers said of Kimmel
In his monologue, Rodgers also took jabs at the media, and criticized an ESPN employee who had condemned his earlier comments.
Pat McAfee pulled the “we have freedom of speech but not freedom from consequences” line when talking about why Aaron Rodgers won’t be part of his ESPN show anymore. *Sigh* 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/if6NpbfKsU
— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) January 10, 2024
The weeklong controversy spawned by Rodgers’s comments—during which McAfee also accused people within ESPN of trying to sabotage his show—was an illustration of the risks that ESPN took when it bet on McAfee to bring in young audiences with an edgy brand of sports-talk programming.
Calling Rodgers “a massive piece of the NFL story,” McAfee said: “We are very lucky to get to chat with him and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions, though, do piss off a lot of people.” He said he was “pumped” not to have to deal with that every week.
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