Jimmy Kimmel challenges Aaron Rodgers to apologize in scathing monologue
Jimmy Kimmel went in on Aaron Rodgers in his first show of the new year following the Jets QB hinting Kimmel’s name would appear on documents related to Jeffrey Epstein last week on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The comment caused a firestorm of controversy and the late-night host didn’t hold back in a roughly seven-minute monologue to open “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Monday night, in which he mocked Rodgers and challenged him to apologize.
“When you hear a guy who won a Super Bowl and did all the State Farm commercials say something like this,” Kimmel said, referring to Rodgers’ Epstein comments, “a lot of people believe it. A lot of delusional people honestly believe I am meeting up with Tom Hanks and Oprah at Shakies once a week to eat pizza and drink the blood of children.
“And I know this because I hear from these people often my wife hears from them. My kids hear from them. My poor mailman hears from these people. And now we’re hearing from lots more of them thanks to Aaron Rodgers.”
Kimmel then suggested that Rodgers either truly believed what he was saying was true, or “he doesn’t actually believe it, and 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 also surmised that Rodgers’ biggest gripe had been when he made fun of him over a conspiracy theory that UFO news was being released to distract from the Epstein list and the comment was retaliation for it.
“Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself. Because he had success on the football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being,” Kimmel later said.
The sharp-tongued attack continued as Kimmel poked fun that Rodgers believed he was smarter than scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic and joked that the “idea that his brain was just average was unfathomable.”
“Aaron got two A’s on his report card and they were both in the word ‘Aaron’,” Kimmel added.
He then acknowledged that Rodgers has the right to his opinions, but drew the line at, in his mind, making up lies and pushed back on Pat McAfee’s comments that it was just supposed to be trash talk.
“Saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash talk. Sorry, Pat McAfee,” Kimmel added.
Kimmel did say that he would accept an apology from Rodgers if one was to come his way.
“When I do get something wrong, which happens on rare occasions, you know what I do? I apologize,” 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. My guess is he won’t apologize.”
Rodgers is waiting to address the situation until he is back on McAfee’s show on Tuesday, essentially declining to answer a question on the topic when it came up during his end-of-the-year Jets media availability on Monday.
“I’m going to talk about it tomorrow on the show. Tune in,” Rodgers said from a podium at the Jets practice facility.
The war between Kimmel and Rodgers flared up again last week when the Jets QB alluded to Kimmel’s name being part of the trove of Epstein documents that have been recently released.
“That’s supposed to be coming out soon,” Rodgers said during his weekly “The Pat McAfee Show” appearance on Jan. 2. “There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping that doesn’t come out.”
And the comedian immediately fired back threatening legal action in a post on X later that same night.
Kimmel’s name has never appeared in any of the documents or was ever connected to the deceased pedophile previously.
Rodgers and Kimmel have been entrenched in an ongoing feud that dates back to 2021 when Kimmel had gone after Rodgers on his late-night talk show over the future hall of famer’s vaccination status.
