Aaron Rodgers Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Pat McAfee offers apology of sorts for Aaron Rodgers' comments on Jimmy Kimmel

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 1/4/24

On Wednesday, Pat McAfee issued an apology of sorts for Aaron Rodgers' most recent appearance on his show.

McAfee, the host of the eponymous "The Pat McAfee Show," addressed the explosive controversy involving the New York Jets quarterback and Jimmy Kimmel, McAfee's Disney colleague.

On Tuesday night, Kimmel posted a response on social media to Rodgers' claim that the late-night talk show host could be exposed as connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who was being investigated by federal authorities on sex trafficking charges. Kimmel threatened legal action against Rodgers for saying that the quarterback would celebrate when the host's name would be revealed from documents that were allegedly going to be unredacted to show the extent of Epstein's reach with wealthy and powerful people.

McAfee apologized for "being part" of a free-flowing discussion that went off the rails, saying that he understands how Kimmel felt how he did and that Rodgers was talking trash and went too far.

We like our show to be an uplifting one.#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bbT65oZQNN
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 3, 2024

ESPN, which employs McAfee on "College GameDay" but licenses "The Pat McAfee Show" through his production company, hasn't issued any comments on the matter. Disney, the parent company of ESPN and ABC, where Kimmel hosts "Jimmy Kimmel Live," has also yet to issue public comment.

Two days removed from Rodgers' claim, neither the quarterback or the Jets have said or done anything to address the controversy.
McAfee is the only one so far to have made some attempt to reconcile the situation, but even he's choosing to fall back into a familiar cover - raising the point that his show is purely for entertainment. He did the same thing when addressing a defamation lawsuit by Brett Favre as the Hall of Fame quarterback is embroiled in a welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi.

Though McAfee and his crew built an audience on irreverence, one has to wonder if eventually he'll institute some sort of check on what can be discussed on his show. Between balancing corporate relationships and trying to retain a barstool/barbershop style of conversation, the fallback to saying it's all for entertainment may wear thin at some point.

More must-reads: