ESPN Declines Comment After Kimmel Threatens Rodgers With Legal Action for ‘McAfee Show’ Remarks

The Jets quarterback made some startling accusations on ESPN against the Disney-employed comedian.

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel threatened New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers with legal action in a social media post on X after Rodgers insinuated that Kimmel’s name would be on the leaked list of associates of deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Rodgers made the comments on Tuesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN.

“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, [who] are really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said.

In the wake of Rodgers’s comments on ESPN—an entity owned by Disney, which employs both McAfee and Kimmel on ABC—a network spokesperson declined to comment to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports about whether Rodgers’s future with The Pat McAfee Show was being examined. Rodgers has been one of several recurring guests on the show, appearing weekly on Tuesday afternoons.

In October, McAfee confirmed a report that he pays Rodgers for the appearances.

Rodgers, the first-year Jets quarterback, continued his weekly appearances on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ after the program’s move to ESPN in 2023 :: Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

As for Kimmel, he couldn’t have made his intentions more clear after Rodgers dragged his name through the mud on national television Tuesday afternoon.

“Dear Aassh---: 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,” Kimmel posted on X. “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”

This is not the first time that Rodgers has made waves in his weekly appearances with McAfee. Rodgers has frequently opened up about his anti-COVID-19 vaccination stance, which included calling out Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and challenging him to a debate. Kelce has been featured in commercials for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

It remains to be seen whether ESPN will squash the weekly appearances of Rodgers on McAfee’s show, but the unchecked accusations against another Disney colleague may prove to be a bridge too far for ESPN in regard to Rodgers’s future with the network.