Jimmy Kimmel Puts Aaron Rodgers on Blast & Challenges Him to Apologize: Inside Their Feud
Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers’ drama started even before the athlete accused the talk show host of being associated with Jeffrey Epstein.
Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers have not seen eye-to-eye over the years. Their drama started in 2021 when Jimmy, 56, slammed Aaron, 40, for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in the height of the pandemic. More recently, the two stars clashed when Aaron claimed that Jimmy had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and registered sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
Below is the full timeline of Jimmy and Aaron’s ongoing feud.
November 2021: Jimmy Slams Aaron For His Vaccination Status
Jimmy went on his late-night show and called out Aaron for trying to hide that he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2021-2022 NFL season. At the time, Aaron was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.
“Right, right, and if parachutes are so great, how come 11 people died skydiving last year?” the host said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November 2021 in response to Aaron’s comments about the vaccine on The Pat McAfee Show. “The fact of the matter is the risk of dying from Covid is 11 times higher if you aren’t vaccinated. This is a dumb conversation, but you’ll never guess who this wack Packer has been getting his medical advice from,” Jimmy added, in reference to Joe Rogan, who had Aaron on his podcast to discuss the vaccine.
“Honestly, the only thing worse than not getting vaccinated when you’re in close contact with other people is letting them think you’re vaccinated when you’re not,” Jimmy also said about Aaron. “It’s basically the Covid equivalent of ‘the condom fell off.’ Aaron is a Karen, that’s the fact of the matter.”
March 2023: Jimmy Calls Aaron a ‘Wack Packer’
Aaron first talked about the alleged list of people associated with Epstein during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in March 2023. Jimmy responded to Aaron’s conspiracy theory comments on his talk show and made fun of the famous athlete.
“Needless to say, all this UFO talk has the tin foil hatters going wild, including whack-Packer Aaron Rodgers,” Jimmy said, adding, “It might be time to revisit that concussion protocol, Aaron.”
January 2024:
When Aaron appeared on The Pat McAfee Show again on January 2, 2024, he outright mentioned Jimmy as one of the high-profile names who will be on the list of people who have alleged ties to Epstein. “A lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, are hoping that doesn’t come out,” Aaron said on the show.
Dear Aasshole: 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… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024
In response, Jimmy once again slammed Aaron and even threatened legal action against the New York Jets quarterback on Twitter.
“Dear aashole: 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.@AaronRodgers12,” Jimmy tweeted.
Pat McAfee even apologized for “being a part” of Aaron’s statement against Jimmy, noting that the former athlete was “just trying to talk s**t.”
“I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position. But I think Aaron was just trying to talk s**t,” Pat said after the argument went viral. “But did it go too far? Jimmy Kimmel certainly said that was the case. We obviously don’t like the fact that we’re associated with anything negative ever. We 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, so we apologize for being a part of it.”
A week after Jimmy called Aaron out, the talk show host challenged the athlete to apologize for “mak[ing] up lies.” Additionally, Jimmy suggested that Aaron “retaliated” against him for previously making a joke about the NFL star.
“I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants to,” Jimmy said during his opening monologue on January 8. “And as far as the ‘Well, you say things about people all the time’ argument goes, yes, I do. It’s not the same. It’s not even close to the same. We say a lot of things on this show. We don’t make up lies. In fact, we have a team of people who work very hard to sift through facts and reputable sources before I make a joke, and that’s an important distinction — a joke about someone. Which is what Aaron Rodgers should do. Which is what a decent person would do, but I bet he won’t. If he does, you know what I’ll do? I’ll accept his apology and move on, but he probably won’t do that. My guess is that he won’t apologize. I hope I’m wrong.”
On January 9, Aaron appeared on The Pat McAfree Show once again but didn’t apologize to Jimmy. He did, however, go on a five-minute rant about COVID-19 vaccines and claimed Jimmy misunderstood his comments about him the week before. He explained that it was “incorrect” to think he was accusing Jimmy of being a pedophile.
“I don’t think he’s the P-word,” Aaron said on the show. “I wish him the best. Again, I don’t give a s— what he says about me. As long as he understands what I actually said, and that I’m not accusing him of being on the list.”
“I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be, so for him to be upset about that, I get it,” he added.
Aaron went on to say that he was addressing the issue that way “we can all move past this” and said his rivalry with Jimmy “goes back to COVID times” when the late night host made “derogatory” comments about him and other open critics of the COVID-19 vaccine. He also criticized ESPN senior vice president of digital and studio production Mike Foss, who had apologized on behalf of the network in a statement, saying Aaron made a “dumb and factually inaccurate joke.”
“Mike, you’re not helping,” Aaron said into the camera.