Aaron Rodgers’ deranged claim about Jimmy Kimmel on Epstein’s list fully crossed the line

This is dangerous.

Until Tuesday, Aaron Rodgers had been a mostly harmless idiot. He’d call into The Pat McAfee Show each week, offer very little of value, then perhaps leave with a goofy sound bite about listening to dolphin sex to cure his achilles, or tell us about his darkness retreats.

That took a turn when Rodgers went on live TV and directly insinuated that comedian Jimmy Kimmel was a pedophile who would appear on the Jeffrey Epstein flight logs.

It’s an awkward exchange where Rodgers begins discussing the conspiracy theory that the colors in the Super Bowl logo represent the teams the NFL rigs the league for. This year the logo is red and purple, which Rodgers says represents the 49ers and Ravens — at which point often-silent, human muppet, A.J. Hawk, confused by what Rodgers is saying, blurts out “This have something to do with the Epstein list that came out?”

A normal, human reaction to someone being so wildly off topic would be to say “no,” and clarify what you’re talking about — but Rodgers instead quips “there are a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who hope that doesn’t come out.”

McAfee and his producers laugh it off, with McAfee insinuating this is some sort of revenge for Kimmel making fun of Rodgers in the past. The worst part is that it’s unclear if McAfee even has the awareness to understand how damaging and dangerous this kind of conspiratorial talk is. This isn’t akin to Rodgers’ normal run of the mill bullshit about his vaccine status or his achilles, the contents of the Epstein case — and child sex abuse theories in general, have led to innocent people being harmed.

On December 4, 2016 a man walked into a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. and fired three rounds from an AR-15 style rifle into the walls and windows of the establishment under the belief that the restaurant played a part in child sex trafficking. There was no evidence outside of online conspiracy theories. The man told the FBI that he wanted to “self-investigate” theories he read online, and this was the result.

So it’s absolutely fair that Kimmel would legitimately be concerned for his safety, as well as the safety of his family when Rodgers tells millions of people on ESPN that he’s part of the Epstein case.

It’s easy to hand wave away Rodgers as simply being dumb. The reality is a lot more sinister. Rodgers has become intimately aware of his profound ability to manipulate people, and gets satisfaction out of it. He knows he can hand wave this incident away, say he was simply joking, or insinuate that “turnabout is fair play” by slandering a comedian — knowing full well that there’s no real way of walking back comments like those about Epstein and Kimmel to those who hang on his words. They will justify a Rodgers’ apology as “forced,” or look for coded meaning in his words — secure in the belief that Kimmel is indeed part of a shadowy cabal.

We’re once again left asking the question: What is too far for ESPN when it comes to Rodgers and McAfee?

This is the same organization who suspended Jemele Hill in 2017 for “violation of the company’s social media guidelines” for giving her opinion of Donald Trump and Jerry Jones on her personal Twitter account, away from ESPN programming. Now, six years later, ESPN money is directly being paid to Aaron Rodgers so he can go live on air and claim another employee inside the same organization (Kimmel is employed by Disney-owned ABC) is part of a pedophilia ring.

While I’ve said in the past that it’s not wrong (albeit icky) that McAfee pays Rodgers for his appearances, this is now beyond the pale.

While his fans might boast that McAfee has transformed the network, ESPN’s quest to capture a new audience has been a mixed bag. Despite being the highest-paid talent on their roster there’s evidence that hasn’t really translated to success, with Awful Announcing pointing out that The Pat McAfee Show draws roughly half the audience that First Take does on traditional TV. The network routinely touts McAfee’s online success in YouTube clips to justify its popularity, while ignoring that First Take routinely tops McAfee in online views, as well as traditional linear distribution.

This discussion of ratings is important insofar as it gives us a better way of appreciating the cost-benefit of McAfee putting Rodgers on the air. Pat’s weekly interviews with Rodgers became the show’s most notable calling card, giving McAfee a direct line to the quarterback that nobody in the industry had — but now, removed from free agency drama and prospective trade rumors it’s unclear what Rodgers brings to the table on a weekly basis. It’s become a weekly opportunity to Aaron to have an open mic to wage war on his “enemies,” which range from traditional medicine, to Dr. Fauci, to now Jimmy Kimmel.

Our online world is fueled by bickering and beef. Sometimes this is real, often it’s manufactured for attention. The old adage that “any publicity is good publicity” only carries so far, especially when it comes to turning an unhinged, conspiratorial mob against an innocent party to exact revenge for a slight.

As for how this will end? Likely quietly, internally, and without the fireworks many hope for. Rodgers will either be barred from appearing on McAfee anymore, leading to a public spat we all forget about in a few weeks — or apologize on the air, claim he was joking, and we’ll wait for the next ludicrous claim to leave his lips.

Still, we need to be asking: What is all this worth? What are we gaining in this race to the media bottom? At what point do people demand more than simply appealing to the lowest common denominator — hour after hour, day after day, week after week. Until we can answer that Rodgers will continue to get a platform, and we’ll all be stupider as a result.