Jimmy Kimmel is still on holiday break from his eponymous late-night show this week—but that didn’t stop him from taking a moment to respond to a wild accusation that was made about him, seemingly out of nowhere, by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on ESPN Tuesday.
“Dear Aasshole: 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,” Kimmel posted on X Tuesday night. “Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
The host quote-tweeted a clip of Rodgers openly suggesting that Kimmel’s name could be on a list of Jeffrey Epstein associates that a judge recently ordered to be unsealed as early as this week.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who are hoping that list doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said during an episode of The Pat McAfee Show, appearing to baffle the show’s co-hosts. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I will definitely be popping some sort of bottle.” the quarterback added.
While Rodgers included no evidence or rationale for his innuendo, he has a history of spouting conspiracy theories about everything from Epstein to UFOs to vaccines—all of which has made him a comedic target of Kimmel’s in the past.
Most notably, Kimmel called Rodgers a “tin foil hatter” for baselessly speculating about the Epstein list in March of last year. “Might be time to revisit that concussion protocol,” Kimmel joked at the time.
