Pat McAfee Apologizes Over Aaron Rodgers’ Epstein Claim: “I Can Understand” Why Kimmel Got Upset

Pat McAfee hopes that ABC late night host and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers talk things over. The host opened his program Wednesday by addressing the feud between Rodgers and Kimmel, which escalated Tuesday when that he could take Rodgers to court over a claim — made on McAfee’s show — that Kimmel had some connection to the list of Jeffrey Epstein associates set to be released this month.

McAfee said that after the Rose Bowl game, he and his team were “rolling on two hours of sleep” going into Tuesday’s show, and added that the freewheeling nature of the show is its hallmark. This time, however, things may have gone a bit too far. “There could be some things that were certainly, probably — I mean, we’re gonna have to hear from Aaron on that — meant to be a shit talk joke that can then become something that is obviously a very serious allegation, that then leads to a massive overnight story, one in which I put the baby down to sleep, I haven’t seen her in a while, then pick up my phone and oohhhh Boy,” McAfee said to open the program.

“We obviously don’t like the to be associated with anything negative ever. We’d like our show to be an uplifting one a happy one a fun one, but it’s because we talk shit and try to make light of everything.” “Some things obviously people get very pissed off about, especially when they’re that serious allegations,” McAfee added.

“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 chit chat and move along.” The host added that he was sympathetic to both men, with Rodgers being a frequent guest, and Kimmel being one of the most high profile people at Disney, which also owns ESPN.

“I can understand why Jimmy got incredibly upset, yeah, I definitely completely understand that, especially with his position, but also I think Aaron is like, ‘hey, this guy has said some stuff about me in his monologue’ and he’s just trying to shit talk,” McAfee said. “I don’t think he meant anything else, but he’s gonna have to clarify that for us.” McAfee also noted that Wednesday’s show would have NFL star JJ Watt as a guest: “I’m not sure there’ll be any threatened lawsuits with that one coming today,” he quipped.

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