(WGN) – Jimmy Kimmel spared no words Monday night in a scathing rebuke of Aaron Rodgers.
In his late-night show monologue, Kimmel addressed comments the former Green Bay Packers and current New York Jets star made last week during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” in which the quarterback insinuated that Kimmel would be named on Jeffrey Epstein’s client list.
In a tweet last week responding to Rodgers’ comments, Kimmel said he’d never met or had any contact with Epstein, and Kimmel’s name has, in fact, not appeared in any association with Epstein. Kimmel also threatened litigation against Rodgers.
In Monday’s fiery monologue, Kimmel said Rodgers made his comments because he was upset Kimmel made fun of him for the star quarterback’s controversial opinions on vaccinations and other medical matters relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Kimmel said Rodgers’ comments connecting him to Epstein were not a joking matter. Kimmel said people believe what Rodgers has to say, so his comments could put Kimmel and his family in danger.
In the wake of last week’s dustup, McAfee apologized for Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel on his show and tried to rationalize the quarterback’s allegation as “trash talk” typical of McAfee’s show.
Kimmel wasn’t having any of that.
“I’m not one of those people who thinks athletes and members of the sports media should stick to talking about sports,” Kimmel said in his Monday monologue. “I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinions he wants to. But saying someone is a pedophile is not an opinion, nor is it trash-talk. Sorry, Pat McAfee.”
Kimmel also took shots at Rodgers’ intelligence in his monologue, claiming Rodgers’ ego and arrogance make him feel like he’s an expert on topics he knows nothing about.
“Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself,” Kimmel said. “Because he had success on the football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he’s smarter than everyone else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him. We learned during COVID somehow he knows more about science than scientists.”
“A guy who went to community college, then got into Cal on a football scholarship and didn’t graduate, someone who never spent a minute studying the human body, is an expert in the field of immunology,” Kimmel continued. “He put on a magic helmet, and that ‘G’ [referring to the logo on the Packers helmets] made him a genius. Aaron got two ‘As’ on his report card. They were both in the word Aaron, OK?”
Kimmel said he would like Rodgers to apologize but doesn’t expect him to.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Rodgers — who was traded from the Packers to the Jets prior to this season but played just four snaps before tearing his Achilles tendon in the Jets’ season opener — had a chance to address the situation with Kimmel on Monday during a season-ending press conference.
Rodgers, however, has decided to wait to address his feud with Kimmel until his scheduled appearance Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” according to Florio.