Aaron Rodgers Won’t Apologize To Jimmy Kimmel — But Did Call Him Out For Making Fun Of His Intelligence: “You Think I’m An Idiot”

By Radhamely De Leon
Published Jan. 9, 2024, 5:13 p.m. ET

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Aaron Rodgers has finally addressed his ongoing feud with Jimmy Kimmel after the late night host threatened to take legal measures against him for insinuating he was connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

During his weekly appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers said, “I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be, so for him to be upset about that, I get it.”

He continued, “I’m not stupid enough, even though you think I’m an idiot and you made a lot of comments about my intelligence, I’m not stupid enough to accuse of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence, that’s ridiculous.”

The Jets quarterback did not apologize to Kimmel, though he did say he would “like to put this to bed.” He also said he was “glad” to see that the late night host was not named in the unsealed documents from Epstein’s case.

Rodgers’ statement comes after Kimmel publicly demanded an apology from him during his monologue on Monday’s (Jan. 8) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

During his monologue, Kimmel referred to the NFL player as a “hamster-brained man.”

“I’m not one of those people who think athletes and members of the sports media should stick to talking about sports,” Kimmel said. “I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants to. But saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash talk.”

He later added that he has no problems apologizing to those he makes jokes about on his show, though he doesn’t expect Rodgers will apologize for his comments.

“Which is what Aaron Rodgers should do. Which is what a decent person would do, but I bet he won’t,” he said. “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.”

Though Rodgers did not apologize to the late night host, ESPN host Pat McAfee shared his own apology to the late night host after Kimmel threatened to sue.

“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. I can’t wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully those two will just be able to settle this,” he said.

Will Rodgers’ new comments actually “put this to bed”? Only time will tell.