I'm Not Sure What Jimmy Kimmel Can Sue Aaron Rodgers For

Analyzing the big dumb controversy between public figures who hate each other

So there’s this feud between ABC (Disney) host Jimmy Kimmel and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, which revolves around the latter’s appearances on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show (Disney). It has something to do with Jefferey Epstein, the New York financier. That’s a ridiculous scenario on its face, but there’s a lot more here.

McAfee, whose talents exist but are hard to define, isn’t just a talking tank top; He’s a big bet towards the future, made by rising Disney executives. They’re tethered to McAfee, who appears (for now), to be tethered to Rodgers. A Disney talent attacking Rodgers’ appearances on McAfee’s show is about more than meets the eye, and I’ll get into that in a subsequent article.

First, though, let’s focus on Kimmel vs. Rodgers, a fight between two men that’s complicated by a lot of free floating culture war baggage. There’s the aspect where Kimmel, while disliked by some for his “corporate media” positions, is largely well liked within, well, the corporate media. Not all of that is about ideology, though. Kimmel’s rep is that of a genial guy, which informs how a controversy like this is relayed to the public.

Rodgers, by contrast, is more of a prickly loner, even if he does have an ally in McAfee. Obviously, he’s also made comments regarded as taboo within media, especially during the pandemic. So this controversy qualifies as another “Can the Media Be Fair to an Asshole it Hates?,” though perhaps I should it spell it “Aasshole” for this occasion.

So, Aaron Rodgers is the asshole in question, and the answer, as always, is “no.” The media reaction to this fight has been, I’d say, pretty hysterical and in many cases, inaccurate.

As you can see, Kimmel is angry over Rodgers’ mentioning his name in relation to since unsealed Jeffery Epstein documents. Yes, that Jeffery Epstein, the mysteriously deceased guy with the underage sex island.

To start, I want to note that I believe so much of the fallout in this controversy is downstream from influencer Collin Rugg’s exaggerated framing. His viral post about Rodgers’ comments made for a game of telephone that was doomed from the beginning. In Rugg’s tweet, which Kimmel responded to, he said:

NEW: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he will pop "some sort of bottle" when the Epstein associates list is released and suggests Jimmy Kimmel will be named. Everyone is excited

Kimmel appears to be reacting to Rugg’s description, which states that Rodgers “suggests Jimmy Kimmel will be named.” Except, it’s not clear that Rodgers makes that exact suggestion (though you could see why someone would think so, absent context on the yearslong fight between these guys). Here’s the actual Rodgers quote, when asked if he’s excited for the Epstein list to come out:

There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping that (list) doesn't come out

Why would Rodgers say this if he’s not insinuating that Kimmel is on the list? Well, naturally, because Kimmel publicly went after Rodgers for wanting the list to come out. But there’s more here.