NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has sparked widespread backlash for comments on the coronavirus pandemic and other conspiracy theories, won’t appear on the Pat McAfee show for the rest of the NFL season, the host announced on Wednesday.
“So Aaron Rodgers Tuesday, season four is done,” McAfee said on his afternoon talk show. “There are going to be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included. The way it ended it got real loud.”
Rodgers appeared on McAfee’s show throughout the playoffs last year. ESPN did not comment on McAfee’s announcement. The network licenses the show from the former NFL punter, who produces the program.
Rodgers last week sparked a firestorm of criticism for seemingly suggesting ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel was “one of the people really hoping that list doesn’t come out,” referring to a rumored list of associates of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
After Kimmel threatened to sue over the comments, McAfee apologized for giving the star quarterback a platform to make the remarks, but a defiant Rodgers sought Tuesday instead to paint himself as being unfairly maligned by Kimmel and others in the media.
“This is the game plan of the media. This is what they do, they try and cancel,” Rodgers said. “If you look at all the different people who have been censored from the internet, especially during COVID … they use these words to cancel people and went and ran with this because it’s the crazy whacko anti vax guy accusing somebody of being a pedophile. Like of course, incorrect, but that’s the environment we’re in.”
ESPN executives have been critical of the comments from Rodgers, who typically makes weekly appearances on McAfee’s program to discuss a wide array of topics ranging from sports to politics and entertainment.
Rodgers on Tuesday called out an ESPN executive who released a statement last week saying the star quarterback made a “dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel.”
McAfee said Wednesday that free speech has consequences.
“I’m happy that is not going to be my mentions going forward,” the host said of the controversy around Rodgers. “We live in a country that has freedom of speech but also you’re going to have to live with the consequences of your freedom of speech.”