ESPN’s Pat McAfee Apologizes to Kimmel For Aaron Rodgers’ Epstein Comments: ‘Obviously a Very Serious Allegation’
Pat McAfee on Wednesday apologized to Jimmy Kimmel after Aaron Rodgers suggested he would be on the list of late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The New York Jets quarterback joined The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday for his weekly appearance. Near the end of the conversation, the topic suddenly shifted to Epstein and the list of approximately 150 people associated with him. It is widely believed on the internet that those listed were also involved in his sex trafficking operation.
During the discussion, Rodgers baselessly implied that Kimmel, who works for ABC (same parent company as ESPN), would be on the list. In response, Kimmel threatened to take legal action.
After a day of intense scrutiny, McAfee opened Wednesday’s episode addressing it.
“There’s no formal outline out what we’re going to talk about, how we’re going to talk about it,” McAfee said. “There’s no A block, B block, C block. There’s no scheduled conversations. There’s no scheduled debates. There’s no topics for you to think about before you get in there. There is just an opportunity to talk about damn-near everything for three-and-a-half hours.
“The upside of that is some magic can come that you never knew was gonna come. Good times can be had. Laughs can be had, especially when you’re rolling on like two hours of sleep like we were yesterday after the Rose Bowl. On the flip side, there can be something 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.”
McAfee then reiterated that Rodgers likely meant it as a joke and apologized to the talk show host.
“We obviously don’t like the fact that we’re associated with anything negative ever,” McAfee continued. “We like our show to be an uplifting, 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 allegation. So, we apologize for being a part of it. Can’t wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully those two will just be able to settle this — not court-wise, but be able to chit-chat and move along.”
Watch above via ESPN
