He started 2024 in the headlines not because of his achievements in football but because of inflammatory things he said off the field. If you’re behind on what happened to Aaron Rodgers and what he said that landed him in such hot water, you’ve come to the right place.
Rodgers has had his fair share of controversies over the years, perhaps most notably when he refused to answer reporters’ questions on whether he’d received the COVID-19 vaccine at the height of the pandemic. Later when he contracted the virus, he told reporters: “Yeah, I’ve been immunized,” but was found later to have deliberately misled the media. He hadn’t, in fact, been vaccinated but instead had received a “homeopathic” treatment (to this day, we don’t know what the hell this could even mean).
“I knew at some point if I contracted COVID or if word got out, because it’s the NFL and there’s leaks everywhere, it was possible I’d have to answer the questions,” Rodgers told Joe Rogan. “And that’s when the s–t storm hit, because now I’m a liar, I’m endangering the community, my teammates, all these people. And then, you know, attempted takedown of me and, you know, my word and my integrity began.” The NFL fined him $14,650 for violating protocols for unvaccinated players, which included not wearing a mask during his weekly news conferences and attending a Halloween party.
What happened to Aaron Rodgers?
The four-time MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback has landed himself in trouble once again, this time implicating a popular talk show host with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s what happened to Aaron Rodgers and why some podcasters have had enough of him.
January 10, 2024: Pat McAfee axes Aaron Rodgers from his show
On January 10, 2024, Pat McAfee announced that Aaron Rodgers would not be returning to his regular Tuesday slots on The Pat McAfee Show, for which he was paid—though this figure is undisclosed.
“‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays’ season four is done,” McAfee said, as his staff applauded, per The Hollywood Reporter. “There will be a lot of people that will be happy with that, myself included, to be honest. With 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.
“Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer, he’s a four-time MVP. He’s a massive piece of the NFL story; whenever you go back and tell it, he will be a huge part of it,” McAfee added. “We are very lucky to get a chance to chat with him and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions though do piss off a lot of people, and I’m pumped that that is no longer gonna be every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for last few weeks.”
January 9, 2024: Aaron Rodgers falls short of apologizing to Jimmy Kimmel
While appearing on the Pat McAfee show on January 9, 2024, Aaron Rodgers fell short of apologizing to Kimmel for his claims connecting the popular talk show host to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After Kimmel threatened legal action, Rodgers said: “I’m glad Jimmy’s not on the list. I wish him the best. I don’t give a s— what he says about me. As long as he understands what I actually said, that I’m not accusing him of being on a list and I’m all for moving forward.”
January 3, 2024: Pat McAfee apologizes for Aaron Rodgers' claim
The same day Kimmel threatened legal action against Rodgers, Pat McAfee issued an apology over Rodgers’ suggestion. “Some things obviously people get very pissed off about, especially when they’re that serious allegations,” McAfee said, per the New York Times. “So we apologize for being a part of it. I can’t wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully those two will just be able to settle this, you know, not work-wise, but be able to chitchat and move along.”
January 3, 2024: Jimmy Kimmel responds to Aaron Rodgers' claim
In response to Aaron Rodgers’ claim, Kimmel tweeted on January 3, 2023: “Dear Aa—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. Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
December 2, 2023: Aaron Rodgers links Jimmy Kimmel to Jeffrey Epstein
Aaron Rodgers made an outlandish, unproven claim against Jimmy Kimmel while appearing on the Pat McAfee show on December 2, 2023. He litigiously suggested that Kimmel would be on the list of Epstein associates, which was wildly circulated on Twitter. “There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said, speaking from what appeared to be his wine cellar. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”
The sealed Epstein documents were part of a defamation lawsuit brought by one of their accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was sexually assaulted multiple times by Prince Andrew in London and on a private Caribbean Island owned by Epstein. Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in the state of New York, which he settled out of court for a reported $16 million. Some 187 names currently redacted in the sealed documents were set for release to the public in January 2024.
In many cases, the names in the documents “really are of innocent people. It’s people who may have been employed, it’s people who may have gone to dinner or to a cocktail party at Jeffrey Epstein’s home,” said CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman. “It is not necessarily naming people who have engaged in actions that were anything like the deplorable actions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
November 2021: Jimmy Kimmel slams Aaron Rodgers for lying about being vaccinated
Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers’ feud dates back to November 2021, when Aaron Rodgers was found to have lied—or strategically misled—the public when he contracted COVID and reporters asked if he’d been vaccinated, which was at the time an NFL pandemic policy. Rodgers said he’d been “immunized”, which
“We should have known because nothing says ‘I heal myself with crystals’ like this haircut. I mean, a little knot on top,” Kimmel said during his opening monologue of Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 4, 2021. “Aaron is a Karen, that’s the fact of the matter.”
Rodgers, however, blamed reporters who failed to ask him to clarify. “Had there been a follow-up to my statement that I’d been immunized, I would have responded with this: I would have said, ‘Look, I’m not some sort of anti-vax-flat-Earther. I’m somebody who’s a critical thinker,’” Rodgers explained of his stance on a November 2021 episode of the Pat McAfee Show. “I march to the beat of my own drum. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy, [in the] ability to make choices for your body, not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture or crazed group of individuals who say you have to do something.”
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