Jimmy Kimmel addressed his recent feud with New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers during his first monologue of the year on Monday night, calling him “Karen Rodgers” for suggesting that Kimmel’s name would appear on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s client list.
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Jan. 2, Rodgers said that “there’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out.” In response, Kimmel took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to dismiss the claim and even threatened legal action, writing: “Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
After confirming that he has never met Epstein or been on his “plane or island or anything, ever,” Kimmel said that Rodgers was probably just trying to get back at him for previously roasting him on “Live!”
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“Either he actually believes my name was going to be on Epstein’s list, which is insane, or 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 were being reported to distract us from the Epstein list.”
After playing said clip of Kimmel poking fun at Rodgers over his conspiracy theory, the host said that it “might be time” for the athlete to “revisit that concussion protocol.”
“Aaron Rodgers has a very high opinion of himself. Because he had success on the 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 everyone else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him,” Kimmel continued. “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 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,’ OK? Can you imagine that this hamster-brained man thinks he knows what the government is up to because he’s a quarterback doing research on YouTube and listening to podcasts?”
Although Kimmel thinks Rodgers “is too arrogant to know how ignorant he is,” he said that if the footballer apologized, he would accept it.
“But I bet he won’t,” Kimmel said. “If he does, you know what I’ll do? I’ll accept his apology and move on, but he probably won’t do that.”
A representative for Rodgers did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Kimmel ended his monologue by directing some heat at former President Donald Trump.
“By the way, if you’re looking for someone who actually was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, who called him a terrific guy and bragged about his affinity for younger women, I have very good news for you, Epstein hunters,” Kimmel said as a clip of Trump and Epstein chatting played. “I found one for you!”
Watch Kimmel’s full monologue below.
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