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Rodgers appeared on his weekly spot on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," on Tuesday, Jan. 9, where he attempted to clarify his previous comments where he implied Kimmel was a patron of Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier and a convicted sex offender.
The New York Jets quarterback, who purchased a mansion in Cedar Grove following his trade to Gang Green, said by saying Kimmel didn't want Epstein's client list to be released, he was speaking in general terms, not trying to say he'd be on the list.
“I was referring to the fact that if there is a list … and there are names on it, that would be the second time that a soft-brained, junior college student wacko, anti-vax … whatever other things have been said by him and other people in the media, would be right twice,” Rodgers said.
Kimmel initially threatened a lawsuit and used his opening monologue on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Monday, Jan. 8, to skewer Rodgers and talk about how damaging it was Rodgers implied he was a pedophile. In 2019, Epstein was indicted on trafficking underage girls, eventually committing suicide in his jail cell.
“I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be,” Rodgers said. “So for him to be upset about that, I get it. I’m not stupid enough, even though you think I’m an idiot … to accuse you of that with absolutely zero concrete evidence. That’s ridiculous.”
Hundreds of court documents from a lawsuit related to Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan federal prison in 2019, were ordered released by a judge that featured the names of people who flew on the wealthy financier's private jet, like Prince Andrew and President Bill Clinton. Kimmel's name was nowhere on the list.
Kimmel had said if Rodgers apologized, he would accept his apology and move on, but in between ranting about Dr. Anthony Fauci, vaccines, the woke mob and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an apology was not forthcoming. The feud began when Kimmel called Rodgers a "wack packer" last year for his initial interest in Epstein's client list, anti-vaccination stance, and general penchant for conspiracy theories.
Rodgers also took a shot at Mike Foss, an ESPN senior vice president who oversees “The Pat McAfee Show,” after Foss called Rogers' initial comments "dumb and factually inaccurate."
"I don’t understand Mike Foss’ comment, because he didn’t help out either,” Rodgers said. “Mike, you’re not helping. This is the gameplan of the media. This is what they do. They try and cancel, not just me. It’s nowhere near just me if you look at all the people that have been censored from the internet."
During his monologue on Tuesday, Kimmel couldn't resist taking one more shot at Rodgers while making a joke about all the respiratory illnesses going around.
"Doctors are urging Americans to ask your medical professional or whichever NFL quarterback you trust for preventative advice," Kimmel joked.
At the end of his segment with Rodgers, McAfee had news that was surely a relief to Kimmel and nervous ESPN executives: Rodgers will not be appearing on the show again until September.
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