Aaron Rodgers no longer appearing on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ this season
"The way it ended, it got real loud. I am happy that he’s not going to be in my mentions going forward."
Aaron Rodgers’s time on “The Pat McAfee” show has come to an end this season.
McAfee made the announcement Wednesday that the outspoken Jets quarterback will no longer be a weekly guest for the remainder of the NFL season. Even though the Jets’ 2023 season came to a close on Sunday with a 17-3 win over the Patriots, Rodgers appeared as a guest on McAfee’s program as late as March during the previous two NFL seasons.
Rodgers ignited plenty of controversy over the last few weeks during his appearances with McAfee, sharing misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding vaccines and Covid — along with comments directed toward ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
“So ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday,’ season four, is done,” McAfee told his audience. “There could be a lot of people that are happy with that. Myself included, to be honest with you. The way it ended, it got real loud. I am happy that he’s not going to be in my mentions going forward, which is great news.”
Rodgers falsely suggested last week that Kimmel — a fellow Disney employee, like ESPN’s McAfee — would appear on documents linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel threatened to sue as a result of Rodgers’ remarks.
ESPN executive Mike Foss, who runs the collaboration between the sports network and McAfee’s show, said that Rodgers “made a dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel” in a comment to The Washington Post.
Rodgers then called out Foss during his last appearance with McAfee on Tuesday.
“Mike, you’re not helping. I just read earlier exactly what I said,” Rodgers said, as transcribed by The New York Post, adding: “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.”
On Wednesday, McAfee acknowledged that he would like to “move on” from the controversy stirred up by Rodgers.
“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 said. “We are very lucky to get a chance to chat with him and learn from him. Some of his thoughts and opinions do piss off a lot of people. I’m pumped that that is no longer every single Wednesday of my life, which it has been for the last few weeks.
“On Friday I obviously threw us into the fire as well. I forever stand by that. Everything else, though, just can’t do that and not what we want to be known for.”
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