by Thinus Ferreira
Bizarrely doing nothing and unwilling to say anything about it, Disney which owns ESPN (DStv 218 / StarSat 248), has allowed The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN to smear its other Disney star Jimmy Kimmel on American's ABC TV channel, with untrue allegations linking the comedian to the convicted American paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Pat McAfee who pays the New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers millions of dollars to be on The Pat McAfee Show, has allowed Rodgers, who is a conspiracy theorist and an anti-vaxxer, to spout boundless conspiracy theories on ESPN where the American sports personality used ESPN to question Covid-19 vaccines.
On Tuesday the conspiracy-prone Aaron Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show that Jimmy Kimmel is apparently going to be named in the list that an American court was getting ready to release and that would include people and associates linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
"There's a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel - really hoping that doesn't come out," Aaron Rodgers said.
The list was released late on Wednesday night and Jimmy Kimmel's name does not appear on it.
Before the list was released, Jimmy Kimmel on X, formerly known as Twitter, said in a statement aimed at Aaron Rodgers: "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 words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court."
ESPN has so far chosen to stay silent about an ESPN show and ESPN airwaves used to attack another valuable Disney asset in the form of Jimmy Kimmel.
Disney's corporate PR division has also decided to stay silent instead of condemning The Pat McAfee Show and Aaron Rodgers.
Pat McAfee on Wednesday's episode on ESPN mentioned the conflict his show has caused, saying "I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position. But I think Aaron was just trying to talk s-."
"Now, did it go too far in a lot of people’s ... Jimmy Kimmel certainly said that was the case. We and I, immediately upon it happening, tried to be like 'whoa'!"
"We obviously don't like the fact that we are associated with anything negative, ever. We like our show to be an uplifting one, a happy one, a fun one. But it's because we talk s- and try to make light of everything."
"Some things, obviously people get very pissed off about especially when they are serious allegations. So we apologise for being a part of it. Can't wait to hear what Aaron has to say about it. Hopefully, those two will just be able to settle this, not court-wise."
