Sports Analyst, Pat McAfee announced on Wednesday that Jets QB Aaron Rodgers" weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show" for the rest of the NFL season is officially terminated.
McAfee kicked off the program by addressing the decision, stating, “So, Aaron Rodgers Tuesday Season 4 is done… I’m happy that that is not gonna be in my mentions going forward which is great news."
The decision follows a week of controversy, with McAfee acknowledging, “Over the last week, we have certainly given them all a lot of stuff to get mad about and become loud about."
He expressed regret for the recent conversations that stirred controversy. McAfee admitted, “Some of his thoughts and opinions, though, p-ss off a lot of people," and expressed relief that this won"t be a recurring feature every Wednesday.
Reflecting on recent discussions, McAfee concluded:
“Everything else, though, like, just can’t do that and not what we want to be known for. And I’m also pumped I don’t have to do these types of talks anymore."
JUST IN: Aaron Rodgers is suspended from appearing on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" for the rest of the season after his beef with 'comedian' Jimmy Kimmel.
Rodgers p*ssed off a lot of people. Good.
McAfee said he was "happy" Rodgers wouldn't be back on the show because of all… pic.twitter.com/57ho5hl6A6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 10, 2024
The controversy began when Rodgers made an Epstein-related comment about Kimmel on the McAfee show.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who are really hoping that doesn’t come out," Rodgers said. “I"ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle."
Next, Kimmel responded by threatening a lawsuit and denying any connection to Epstein or allegations of being a pedophile.
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. Your reckless… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024
Now, on Tuesday"s episode of The Pat McAfee show, Aaron took issue with ESPN executive Mike Foss, who criticized his joke about Kimmel as “dumb and factually inaccurate" last week.
Rodgers accused Foss of not helping and claimed that the media"s game plan is to cancel people. He defended himself against various labels, such as being called anti-vax, MAGA, and a conspiracy theorist. Rodgers mentioned his stance on informed consent and his disassociation from political affiliations.
Here"s the full statement made by Aaron Rodgers:
"Mike, you’re not helping. I just read earlier exactly what I said," Rodgers said.
"This is the game plan of the media. This is what they do. They try and cancel. It’s not just me. It’s nowhere near just me. You look at all the different people who have been censored from the internet, especially during Covid — the canceling that went on, the censorship, using the government to try and censor people — and if that doesn’t work, they go to name-calling.
"I mentioned all the names that I’ve been called, and they don’t stick, because I’m not anti-vax. I’m interested in informed consent, and things that are in the best interest of my body. I’m not a MAGA. I’ve never had any affiliation with anybody associated with that movement, which is OK if you are though! There’s different opinions all over the place. If that’s your ideology, that’s fine! I’m not a super political person. Do whatever you want. Conspiracy theorist? That’s fine. Because if you’re looking at the track record of conspiracy theorists in the last few years, they’ve been right about a lot of things."
Aaron Rodgers calls out Mike Foss, an EVP at ESPN on an ESPN show 🤣😂
"YOUR NOT HELPING MIKE."
I predict the Pat McAFee + Aaron Rodgers days are numbered… MSM doesn’t like being called out, especially on their own network. pic.twitter.com/os7anKBCAA
— Mike McDaniel (@MikMcDaniel) January 9, 2024
Additionally, Rodgers expressed relief that Kimmel wasn"t on a certain list and clarified that he doesn"t think Kimmel is a pedophile.
"I’m glad that Jimmy is not on the list. I really am. I don’t think he’s the p-word [pedophile]. I think it’s impressive that a man who went to Arizona State and has 10 joke writers can read off a prompter," Rodgers mentioned.
FYI, last October, former NFL punter turned sports analyst, Pat McAfee acknowledged compensating Rodgers with a sum exceeding $1 million for his weekly appearances on the show.
On the game front, Aaron Rodgers sat out the remainder of the 2023 NFL season due to a torn Achilles. Despite his efforts to expedite his recovery post-surgery, he declared in December 2023 that he would not be participating in any further games that season. Nevertheless, he expressed his commitment to returning to play in the 2024 season
