Jimmy Kimmel threatens to sue American footballer for “putting his family in danger”

Jimmy Kimmel has threatened to sue Aaron Rodgers after he made comments suggesting the late-night host was connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday (January 2), the New York Jets quarterback implied Kimmel would be named on the soon-to-be-published list of Epstein associates.

The names of over 150 associates of the late sex offender are set to be made public after a federal judge authorised the unsealing of court documents in December last year. Those in the list were given 14 days to appeal the judge’s decision, with the deadline passing at midnight on Monday (January 1).

The list of names were part of the 2015 defamation lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell of trafficking her as a minor.

“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said on the show regarding the Epstein list.

He added: “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”

In response to his comments on X, Kimmel denied any connection to Epstein, writing: “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.

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. Your reckless… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024

“Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”

Kimmel previously mocked Rodgers’ on his late-night show in March 2023, after he discussed the Epstein list on a past episode of the Pat McAfee Show.

As reported by Variety, Rodgers said in an episode from February last year: “Did you hear about the Epstein client list about to be released? There’s some files that have some names on it that might be getting released pretty soon.”

Kimmel played the clip of Rodgers’ comments on his show, saying: “It might be time to revisit the concussion protocol, Aaron,” before describing him as a “tin-foil hatter”.

The chat show host is married to writer Molly McNearney. The couple have two children together, while Kimmel has two other children from a previous marriage.

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