Jimmy Kimmel kicked off his first show of 2024 with a seven-minute monologue ripping New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers for claiming the late-night host had ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
During an appearance last week on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," Rodgers seemed to suggest Kimmel wouldn't be happy about the impending unsealing of court documents related to Epstein, the convicted sex-offender who died by suicide at an NYC prison.
Kimmel responded to Rodgers' comments on a viral post on X, denying any ties to Epstein and threatening legal action against the four-time NFL MVP. Kimmel was not named in any of the troves of documents that have been released thus far.
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Kimmel opened the monologue by calling the quarterback "Karen Rodgers," and once again denied any connections to Epstein. Kimmel posed that Rodgers was probably trying to get back at him for poking fun of him over his conspiracy theories.
"... The more likely scenario is he doesn’t actually believe that, he just said it because he’s mad at me for making fun of his top knot and his lies about being vaccinated," Kimmel said. "He’s particularly upset I think because I made fun of the fact that he floated this wacko idea that the UFO sightings that were in the news in February [2023] were being reported to distract us from the Epstein list. That was Aaron’s theory that he said, and I mocked [him].
"So he saw that and maybe to retaliate, he decided to insinuate that I am a pedophile," Kimmel continued. "This is how these nuts do it now. You don’t like Trump, you’re a pedophile. It’s their go-to move, and it shows you how much they actually care about pedophilia."
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Kimmel then talked about how Rodgers has a "very high opinion of himself."
“But here’s the thing: I spent years doing sports. I’ve seen guys like him before. Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself. Because he had success on a football field, he believes himself to be an extraordinary being. He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he’s smarter than everybody else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him. We learned during COVID somehow he knows more about science than scientists.
“A guy who went to community college, then got into Cal on a football scholarship, and didn’t graduate. Someone who never spent a minute studying the human body is an expert in the field of immunology. He just put on a magic helmet and that ‘G’ made him a genius. Aaron got two As on his report card. They were both in the word Aaron ..."
Kimmel also suggested Rodgers was going through what's called the Dunning-Kruger effect, which "is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities."
"In other words, Aaron Rodgers is too arrogant to know how ignorant he is," Kimmel said. "They let him host 'Jeopardy!' for two weeks, now he knows everything."
Kimmel then said he's not someone who believes Rodgers should stick to talking about sports, rather he has the right to express his opinions. But Kimmel added that saying "someone is a pedophile isn't an opinion nor is it trash talk."
Near the end of his monologue, Kimmel said he's ready to move on if Rodgers apologizes, which is "what a decent person would do." Kimmel, however, said he's betting Rodgers won't.
Kimmel closed his remarks with a dig at Rodgers and the Jets' losing record, with 13 consecutive seasons of being eliminated from playoffs.
"Congratulations to Aaron Rodgers, who has done the impossible: He's made the New York Jets even worse," Kimmel said.
Rodgers said in a press conference early Monday that he would address his response on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.