One of the leading stories of the last week-plus in the sports world (and generally, the media world) has been Aaron Rodgers’ weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, where his propensity for spouting conspiracy theories landed him and McAfee in some very hot water.
Rodgers said that Jimmy Kimmel, who is one of Disney’s highest paid employees along with McAfee, was hoping the Jeffrey Epstein list wouldn’t come out publicly. That crossed the line from just “talking sh*t,” as McAfee tried to call it in a half-apology later, and had Kimmel threatening legal action against Rodgers and then torched him on his late night show. Rodgers then returned to the McAfee show this Tuesday and, while he wouldn’t apologize, he said he was hoping everyone could move past it (which is certainly what someone who might get sued would want). He then continued to spout various COVID conspiracies and other things while A.J. Hawk stared blankly at the camera, and it was all just a lot.
On Wednesday, McAfee opened his show by proudly saying Aaron Rodgers’ fourth season of appearances on the show had come to an end, as they would not bring him in through the playoffs.
We've given a lot of people who have been waiting for us to fail a lot of ammo the last week..
Let's chat about sports #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/S7J3FGprv0
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2024
It was the decision of McAfee and company, but certainly one ESPN is probably very relieved by. The real question will be what happens next fall and whether Rodgers returns to McAfee’s airwaves, as that door certainly wasn’t closed by Pat in this segment. In the meantime, McAfee says he’s glad his mentions will not include people yelling at Rodgers — which, again, that’s Pat’s decision to bring him on knowing exactly how Rodgers is going to act — and hopes he will stay out of hot water with ESPN’s brass for a bit.
