Pat McAfee has announced that Aaron Rodgers will not make any future appearances on his ESPN show this season amid the NFL star’s controversial comments.
“So Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays season 4 is done,” McAfee, 36, said during the Wednesday, January 10 episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “There will be a lot of people that will be happy with that, myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud. I’m happy that that is not going to be my mentions going forward, which is great news.”
McAfee continued that they “are very lucky to get a chance to chat with [Rodgers] and learn from him,” as he’s “a huge part” of the NFL.
“Some of his thoughts and opinions, though, do piss off a lot of people,” he said. “I’m pumped that that is no longer every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks.”
Rodgers, 40, who had been a weekly guest on the show, reportedly received seven figures per year to make his appearances on Tuesdays, according to the New York Post. McAfee confirmed to the outlet in October 2023 that Rodgers “has made over $1,000,000 with us, for sure.”
“We’ve given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo and things to attack us for over the last week,” McAfee said on Wednesday. “And we would love to get back to the point where we just move on.”
The New York Jets quarterback made headlines earlier this month when he insinuated during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show that Jimmy Kimmel should be worried about the names on the late Jeffery Epstein’s list. The claim implied that the late night host, 56, had a connection to the accused sex offender.
“I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I will definitely be popping some sort of bottle,” Rodgers said.
In response, Kimmel slammed Rodgers for his allegations and threatened to pursue legal action.
“Dear A–hole: 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 via X (formerly Twitter) on January 2. “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court. @AaronRodgers12.”
McAfee, for his part, apologized during his show and suggested the joke went 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. “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.”
Kimmel also addressed Rodgers’ “damaging” allegations during his monologue on his ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! following a holiday hiatus and denied his connection to Epstein once again. (ESPN and ABC are both owned by Disney.)
Amid the ongoing feud, Rodgers did not retract or apologize for his comments during his final appearance on the show on Tuesday, January 9, and said he “wishes [Kimmel] the best.”
“I don’t give a s–t what he says about me,” Rodgers said. “As long as he understands what I actually said, that I’m not accusing him of being on a list. I’m all for moving forward.”
