Aaron Rodgers will not appear on “The Pat McAfee Show” this NFL season, and the ESPN host distanced himself from the lightning rod quarterback Wednesday.
Rogers recently accused cartoonist Jimmy Kimmel of hinting that the late-night show host’s name would appear on unopened documents related to suspected pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It was causing anger.
When McAfee announced Wednesday that his weekly segment, “Tuesdays with Aaron Rodgers,” has ended for the season, he and his staff applauded.
Mr. McAfee explained that Mr. Rogers was too distracting.
“The man who stopped by yesterday caused quite a stir.” McAfee said About Rogers’ appearance on Tuesday.
When a voice off-camera can be heard saying, “It’s business as usual,” an exasperated McAfee retorts, “That’s not true.”
“So “Aaron Rodgers Tuesday” “Season 4 is over,” McAfee said before applause. “I think there’s a lot of people who are happy about that, myself included, to be honest.”
He continued, “The way it ended was really loud, it got really loud. I’m glad I won’t be mentioning it in the future, which is great news.”
McAfee explained that he has full creative control over the show’s content, but said the backlash from Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel in an appearance last week has been problematic and given “ammo” to critics of the show. It seems so.
“And last week, we certainly gave them all a lot to be mad at and yell at. We messed up on that particular aspect,” McAfee said.
“We live in a country where there is free speech, but you also have to deal with the consequences of free speech. “We gave a lot of ammunition to the people who have been attacking us for the past week.” ”
He praised Rodgers, a Super Bowl champion and four-time NFL MVP, but said he was happy to be moving on from Rodgers.
“I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to talk to him and learn from him, but some of his ideas and opinions offend many people,” McAfee said. “And I’m excited, as I have been for the past few weeks, that every Wednesday of my life will no longer be here.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if Rodgers intended to be permanently absent from “The Pat McAfee Show” or if his 2023 contract is set for the regular season only.
However, Rodgers made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” after the 2022 regular season. in front and rear Super Bowl.
ESPN spokeswoman Julie McKay did not provide further details. About former NFL punter McAfee announcement.
“Pat spoke on the show. I have no comment on this matter,” she said.
Rogers caused a stir in 2021 when he said he was “vaccinated” against COVID-19 after being asked if he had been vaccinated.However, he later revealed that Actually, I haven’t been vaccinated. On the advice of podcaster Joe Rogan, he took ivermectin instead.
This episode may have caused Rodgers to lose his longtime job as a pitcher. For State Farm Insurance.
Years before COVID-19, Rogers was having a good time. reputation as a sensitive person, educated at berkeley A renaissance man who was also a guest host on “Jeopardy.”
The signal-caller left Green Bay before this season; new york jetswith hopes of reinvigorating a franchise that had been in the doldrums for a long time.
He suffered a season-ending injury shortly after the start of the first game against New York. said the 40-year-old surefire Hall of Fame QB. He is scheduled to play in 2024.
His departure from McAfee comes a little more than a week after Kimmel suggested his name might appear in Epstein’s court documents.
“A lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hope this never comes out,” Rodgers said last week, referring to unsealed court documents related to Epstein.
Kimmel had He previously mocked Rodgers’ anti-vaccine comments and made fun of his hair, which the late-night host believes led to false claims linking the QB to Epstein.
