Regarding persistent rumors that he wants to be sacked from Worldwide Leader In Sports, Pat McAfee has spoken out.
When quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets made waves last week on “The Pat McAfee Show,” he implied that Jeffrey Epstein’s client list included popular late-night TV personality Jimmy Kimmel.
There isn’t any proof connecting Kimmel, who subsequently vowed to sue Rodgers, to the embattled financier’s list. The tweet from Kimmel is displayed below.
Aaron Rodgers warns ESPN's audience about "the alphabet gangsters" in the medical field pic.twitter.com/znfAjY8w8i
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 2, 2024
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
When McAfee claimed that ESPN executive Norby Williamson was manipulating the former’s well-liked TV program, he garnered even more attention last week. This gave rise to rumors that McAfee was attempting to get dismissed from the World’s Leading Sports Company:
*BOMBSHELL*
Pat McAfee accuses ESPN executives of purposely sabotaging his show and leaking false information to the media.
McAfee specifically names ESPN leader Norby Williamson as the person leading the sabotage efforts.
Horrible look for ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rGcOSNcHRW
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) January 5, 2024
Pat McAfee response to the controversy
However, McAfee stressed on Monday that he gets along well with ESPN and isn’t at anyway attempting to leave the organization (via Nick Kosko of On3.com):
“A lot of people are saying I’m trying to get fired, no way. What ESPN has been able to do for us more specifically, whenever they do things like this. You have no idea about the crew behind the scenes here that we’ve been working with basically all year, not only on GameDay, but for our show whenever we’re traveling. We got nothing but love for all of these people.”
“Now there’s certainly people we do not like. Certainly. And they do not like us, that’s how it’s gonna be. And I don’t take back anything that I said about said person, but the overall storyline about us and ESPN, I think people need to remember we’re strong. We are strong baby. We all understand what the future looks like. There’s just some old hags that potentially don’t but we will move forward to that.”
Pat McAfee “don’t take back anything” he said about Norby Williamson, but insists his relationship with ESPN is “strong” pic.twitter.com/U3YZe37O6n
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 8, 2024
During his appearances on McAfee’s show, Rodgers has spread a number of conspiracy theories and false facts regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. There have been demands for ESPN to remove Rodgers from the show as a result, but that is clearly not going to happen.
For ESPN, McAfee’s program generates tons of ratings, and for big brands, that’s usually all that counts. And whether fans like it or not, there’s no denying that Rodgers’ weekly appearances increase the number of people who watch McAfee’s show.
