The Origin Of Jimmy Kimmel & Aaron Rodgers' Fiery Feud

The standoff between Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers runs very deep. 

Back in January 2024, the late-night talk show host and New York Jets quarterback made headlines after the latter made some eye-opening comments about the former on "The Pat McAfee Show." When discussing the public release of documents regarding Jeffrey Epstein, Rodgers seemingly suggested that Kimmel would be on the list, stating, "There's a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who's really hoping that it doesn't come out," he quipped. It didn't take long for Kimmel to respond, with the comedian taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam the football player for making outlandish and untrue statements.

"Dear Aa**shole: 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," he wrote. Towards the end of his statement, Kimmel threatened to take Rodgers to court if he continued to make false claims, adding, "Your reckless words put my family in danger." While the feud between Rodgers and Kimmel may come as a surprise to some pop culture enthusiasts, the two industry talents are no strangers to butting heads. 

Jimmy Kimmel and Aaron Rodgers' longstanding beef first started in 2021 after the latter admitted to misleading people over his vaccination status. In August of that year, the former Green Bay Packers star seemingly confirmed his vaccination, telling reporters, "Yeah, I've been immunized." However, in November, he revealed that he was, in fact, not vaccinated and was taking Ivermectin at the advice of Joe Rogan. The medication is not an approved treatment to fight against COVID-19. "I'm not an anti-vax, flat-earther... I have an allergy to an ingredient that's in the mRNA vaccines," he said on "The Pat McAfee Show," adding, "I found a long-term immunization protocol to protect myself, and I'm very proud of the research that went into that."

Following his admission, Rodgers faced backlash from fans and his industry peers like Kimmel, who called the former out on his late-night talk show. "Honestly, the only thing worse than not getting vaccinated when you're in close contact with other people is letting them think you're vaccinated when you're not," the comedian said during his opening monologue. "It's basically the COVID equivalent of 'the condom fell off.' Aaron is a Karen. That's the fact of the matter." Kimmel wasn't the only one upset over Rodgers' dishonesty. On November 9, the Green Bay Packers fined the controversial player $300,000 for attending a team Halloween party. Under their protocols at the time, unvaccinated players were not allowed to participate in team gatherings outside of practices and games.

Aaron Rodgers' comments on the COVID-19 vaccination weren't the only thing that rubbed Jimmy Kimmel the wrong way. In February 2023, the New York Jets star spewed more conspiracy theories during his weekly appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show." However, instead of vaccines, his statements were regarding the UFO sightings that were making headlines at the time. "It's interesting timing on everything. There's a lot of other things going on in the world," he explained. He went on to claim that the government was trying to shift the attention from other controversial issues like the release of Jeffrey Epstein's client list. "Did you hear about the Epstein client list about to be released? There's some files that have some names on them that might be getting released pretty soon," he said. "[Ghislaine] Maxwell was the only person ever convicted of trafficking, and nobody who was involved in the trafficking ever went to jail. Nothing to see here."

In response to Rodgers' claims, Kimmel described the former as a Green Bay Wack Packer and a tinfoil hatter during a March episode of his late-night show. "Might be time to revisit that concussion protocol, Aaron," he added after showing a clip of the football star making the statements mentioned above.