We certainly didn’t have this on our Bingo card for 2024.
During a regular appearance on the sports talk show The Pat McAfee Show earlier this month, New York Jets quarterback and longtime conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers made his latest controversial claim: He suggested that late-night talk host Jimmy Kimmel might be listed as one of the names in the Jeffrey Epstein list.
The “Epstein list” refers to a slew of court documents that are being released this month, and are expected to reveal approximately 150 names of people who are in some way connected to the Epstein court case, as alleged co-conspirators, alleged perpetrators, and alleged victims and witnesses. To be clear, just because someone’s name is on the list doesn’t necessarily mean they were a client of Epstein, or that they are or were in any way implicated in a crime. Nonetheless, Rodgers’ comment has created quite a stir.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that [list] doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said, on Jan. 2. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”
Jimmy Kimmel calls out Aaron Rodgers in his monologue
It didn’t take long for Rodgers’ comments to make it back to Kimmel — and suffice it to say, the TV personality was furious. In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Kimmel told Rodgers, “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.”
Then, during his first monologue of the year on Jan. 8, Kimmel shed more light on his frustration with the situation, and referred to Rodgers as “hamster-brained” and a “Karen.” “Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself,” Kimmel said. “Because he had success on the football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he’s smarter than everyone else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him.”
Kimmel went on, “Either [Rodgers] actually believes my name was going to be on Epstein’s list, which is insane, or the more likely scenario is he doesn’t actually believe that, he just said it because he’s mad at me for making fun of his top knot and his lies about being vaccinated. He’s particularly upset, I think, because I made fun of the fact that he floated this wacko idea that the UFO sightings that were in the news in February were being reported to distract us from the Epstein list.”
Rodgers responds to Kimmel’s monologue: “This is the game plan of the media”
In another appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers acknowledged Kimmel’s anger, but did not apologize. If anything, he doubled down on his comment.
“I said, that a lot of people, and I’m quoting myself here, ‘a lot of people — including Jimmy Kimmel — are really hoping that [list] doesn’t come out,’ end quotes, that’s what I said,” Rodgers remarked. “I was referring to the fact that if there is a list — which again, this hasn’t come out yet, this was just a deposition — and there are names on it, then that would be the second time that a soft brain, junior college student, you know, wacko anti-vax, anti-Semite, purveyor, spreading misinformation, conspiracy theorists, MAGA — whatever other things have been said by him and other people in the media — would be right twice.”
Rodgers went on, “So, for him to be upset about that, I get it. I’m not stupid enough…to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence…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, I’m all for moving forward.”
During that conversation, Rodgers blamed the media for his strained relationship with Kimmel. “This is the game plan of the media, this is what they do,” Rodgers said. “They try and cancel…it’s not just me.”
The convoluted history between Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jeffrey Epstein
Rodgers might be a professional athlete, but that has never stopped him from weighing in on all manner of topics. For example, he’s allegedly a 9/11 truther, and frequently spreads scientifically inaccurate information about vaccines. During Covid, he slammed the legitimacy of the Covid vaccine, made misleading comments about his own immunization status that implied he had gotten the vaccine, then later admitted he never got it himself.
Given his pattern of saying such outlandish things, it’s unsurprising that he frequently serves as late-night news fodder — and Kimmel has routinely taken advantage of that through the years. In 2021, for example, Kimmel slammed and mocked Rodgers on numerous occasions for Rodgers’ claims about Coronavirus, including his extensive criticism of the Covid vaccine and his effort to legitimize ivermectin as an alternative cure.
Then, earlier this year, Kimmel and Rodgers became entangled again when Rodgers made a controversial connection between Epstein and…UFOs.
In March, Rodgers appeared on the Pat McAfee Show (the same one on which he made his most recent comments) and started talking about UFOs. “There’s a lot of old papers and files about interactions Navy pilots have had with unidentified flying objects, so this is not surprising…Obviously, there was some sort of Chinese spy balloon that was up in the air, allegedly, and there’s been a few other objects that have been shot down,” Rodgers said. He added, “I believe that this has been going on for a long time. Interesting timing on everything. There’s a lot of other things going on in the world.”
The conversation continued, and Rodgers said, “Did you hear about the Epstein client list about to be released, too?…There are some files that have some names on them that might be getting released pretty soon.”
Shortly after that conversation aired, Kimmel shared a clip of Rodgers’ comments on his show. “It might be time to revisit that concussion protocol, Aaron,” Kimmel said, over audience laughter. He also called Rodgers a “tin foil hatter” at another point. Kimmel was far from the only person to take aim at Rodgers for his apparent suggestion that the United States Military’s downing of four foreign objects that February was part of some Epstein cover-up. Yet it was Kimmel who took the ire of Rodgers’ friend, Green Bay Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari, who shared the clip of Kimmel mocking Rodgers to X and captioned it, “Tell me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, without telling me you’re on the Jeffrey Epstein client list….”
Now, months later, the conflict between these two men has escalated. It’s a remarkable level of depth for such a strange, genre-defining celebrity beef. You’ve got an NFL player with no connection to Epstein, a late-night talk show with no connection to Epstein, caught in an ongoing argument about — you guessed it — Epstein.
Amid all of this Rodgers/Kimmel chaos, proof of a real connection between Kimmel and Epstein has gone viral, but hardly in the way that Rodgers has implied. A video of Kimmel with Adam Lang, a New York City restauranteur and food celebrity who once served as Epstein’s chef, has been shared by several accounts on X, generating hundreds of thousands of views.
Kimmel has long supported Lang’s culinary endeavors, and the two have filmed multiple television segments together. But there’s no evidence whatsoever that Lang ever personally connected Kimmel to Epstein, himself, while the billionaire was alive. Lang worked for Epstein as a personal chef from 1999 to 2003. He never publicly disclosed this position until an investigative report by Eater came out in 2019. At that point, Lang gave a statement to the food site, denying he ever had any knowledge of Epstein’s pattern of child molestation. “Almost 20 years ago, as a young chef I was hired to work for Jeffrey Epstein,” the chef said. “My role was limited to meal preparation. I was unaware of the depraved behavior and have great sympathy and admiration for the brave women who have come forward.”
Pat McAfee apologizes for his role in the feud
A day after Rodgers’ original comments aired on The Pat McAfee Show, host Pat McAfee offered up a public apology for his role in the conversation.
“[There are] some things obviously people get very pissed off about, especially when they’re serious allegations,” McAfee said. “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.”
McAfee also made a point to empathize with Kimmel’s frustration. “I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position,” he said. “But I think Aaron was just trying to talk shit.”
