ESPN is in a tricky situation over Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel's feud relating to comments made over the now-released Jeffrey Epstein list.
The Disney-owned network has not commented on Rodgers' remarks during 'The Pat McAfee Show' linking Kimmel to the convicted sex offender. The New York Jets quarterback stated on Tuesday's show: "There's a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn't come out," referring to the now-released court documents.
The late-night television host's name does not appear in any of the roughly 60 files unsealed this week. Pat McAfee, the show's host, apologised for the comments at the start of Wednesday's show, but neither the network nor Rodgers has addressed the comments themselves.
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Kimmel escalated the situation by threatening legal action against the Jets quarterback if he continued making such accusations. After calling Rodgers an "a*******" on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he also addressed the allegations.
"For the record, I've not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein," the post reads, "nor will you find my name on any "list" other than the clearly phoney nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can't seem to distinguish from reality."
"Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up, and we will debate the facts further in court."
Aaron Rodgers is staying silent, with Pat McAfee instead apologising on his behalf earlier this week (Getty)An ESPN source reportedly described the situation to Front Office Sports as a "big can of worms" for Disney, the parent company of ESPN and ABC, which airs "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". Removing Rodgers from the program would not be simple, explained the same ESPN source, due to his "tough to void" agreement with the show.
Rodgers has been a regular on the popular programme for years, even before it switched networks last year. Notably, last September, they inked a five-year deal with ESPN, and the show attracts viewers and generates revenue for the network.
McAfee is the only figure to address the matter, doing so on Wednesday's episode. "I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position," he began, "But I think Aaron was just trying to talk s***."
"Now, did it go too far in a lot of people's ... Jimmy Kimmel certainly said that was the case." He continued: "We obviously don't like the fact that we are associated with anything negative, ever."
"We like our show to be an uplifting one, a happy one, a fun one. But it's because we talk s*** and try to make light of everything - some things, obviously, people get very p***** off about, especially when they're that serious allegations. So we apologise 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, you know, not court-wise. But be able to chit-chat and move along."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to webhomepage@mirror.co.uk
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