Pat McAfees timeline of controversies at ESPN from Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel to Caitlin Clark
Pat McAfees timeline of controversies at ESPN from Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel to Caitlin Clark
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When ESPN brought "The Pat McAfee Show" to its airwaves in September 2023, it hoped the program would spark renewed viewership interest in the network and provide consumers with a reason to purchase ESPN+, the company's streaming service.That plan has come to fruition but not without some costs.The main one? The unfiltered Pat McAfee has occasionally created controversies that have brought unwanted attention to his program and ESPN.From feuds with his colleagues and higher-ups at the network to a handful of off-color jokes and comments, here's a look at some of McAfee's controversies during his time at ESPN.MORE: McAfee's first controversy began before his show hit the air at ESPN. On July 30, 2023, McAfee replied to a post by Michigan State fan Eric Fox, who works alongside McAfee on "The Pat McAfee Show," and evoked the name of Larry Na sar.Na sar is a disgraced doctor who was charged with po se sion of child pornography and sexually a saulting at least 265 young women and girls. McAfee's tweet cracked that Na sar who worked at Michigan State before being given a de facto life sentence for his crimes had worked on the Spartans' new uniforms.I think Na sar was in on the design team actually Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) Naturally, McAfee's post sparked immediate outrage. Many called upon him to delete it as it was disrespectful to the victims who had endured Na sar's abuse during his two decades at Michigan State and USA Gymnastics.McAfee chose to leave it up. He then , saying he was "simply talking s to my friend" and offered a non-apology apology."There is an all-out onslaught against me right now for simply linking one terrible thing from a school with the most terrible thing from a school to a friend in a reply tweet; talking s to a friend in a reply tweet," McAfee said. "I do apologize if some people took that in a different way and spun it into their own narrative to offend a bunch of other people and kinda did that whole thing. I was simply talking s to my friend.After that statement, McAfeequipped that Michigan State alumni were "trying to silence some media whenever they acknowledge that Larry Na sar."McAfee also expre sed his belief that joking about Na Saudi Arabia Jersey sar would be helpful to his victims."So, I do apologize to everybody that just took my six-word tweet and said that I was disrespecting this and not thinking about the victims," McAfee said. "What? I think we're thinking about the victims, future victims and everything by reminding people that this motherfer had a lot of power at Michigan State for a long time while being a terrible human being. And I'm just s-talking a friend."Despite the attention McAfee's post received, ESPN did not addre s it. The reply remains up to this day.Despite McAfee's Na sar tweet, the first few months of the "Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN went relatively smoothly. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers a noted opponent of vaccines for his appearance in a copyright commercial, but aside from that, the show generally steered clear of trouble.That was until Rodgers appeared on the show in January 2024 and began to speak about the Epstein list acollection of hundreds of documents from a lawsuit related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.In doing so, , who joked in March 2023 about Rodgers' conspiracy theory that the U.S. government had dropped news about UFOs to distract from the revelation of the Epstein list."Theres a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesnt come out," Rodgers said, before adding, "If that list comes out, I'll definitely be popping some sort of bottle."Kimmel was unimpre sed by Rodgers' remarks and that he could seek out a defamation suit after Rodgers' "reckle s words put his family in danger."Dear Aa shole: for the record, Ive 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 cant seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckle s words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.McAfee tried to defuse the situation by referring to it as Rodgers "talking s." Kimmel addre sed that in a monologue on his show which notably airs on ABC and is owned by Disney, the same parent company as ESPN."Saying someone is a pedophile isnt an opinion nor is it trash talk, sorry Pat McAfee," Kimmel said. on McAfee's show. The Jets quarterback swore multiple times on ESPN's airwaves during his unhinged rant.Shortly thereafter, McAfee announced during the NFL season.MORE: Around the same time that McAfee announced Rodgers wouldn't be returning to his show, the host called out ESPN executive Norby Williamson a 40-plus-year employee of the company for attempting to sabotage "The Pat McAfee Show."How was Williamson doing that, in McAfee's opinion? He was manipulating the ratings of the program to make them worse.Were very appreciative, and we understand that more people are watching this show than ever before. Were very thankful for the ESPN folks for being very hospitable. Now, there are some people actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN more specifically, I believe, Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program, McAfee said.Now, Im not 100 percent sure. That is just seemingly the only human that has information, and then that information gets leaked, and its wrong, and it sets a narrative of what our show is.And then are we just gonna combat that from a rat every single time? Somebody tried to get ahead of our actual ratings release with wrong numbers 12 hours beforehand. Thats a sabotage attempt. Its been happening this entire season from some people who didnt nece sarily love the old addition of The Pat McAfee Show to the ESPN family. Theres a lot of those."McAfee further detailed that and some other executives who didn't like the show. That didn't sit well with McAfee and is what prompted him to speak out."Once you start learning about how s is going behind the scenes, things that are being said to people, things that are being leaked, the timing in which they're being leaked it's like oh, they're trying to kill me," McAfee said. "They're trying to they're trying to make our show impo sible to advertise with. They're trying to make sure people don't watch our show."ESPN received blowback from McAfee's barb of Williamson. Notably, Jimmy Pitaro and Bert Magnus received backlash an unintended consequence, as McAfee clarified he liked working with both men while an "ESPN stinks" hashtag began trending as a result of the Williamson debacle.It's worth noting that other current and former ESPN personalities joined McAfee to condemn Williamson. That ultimately led to his ouster at the company, which was generally viewed positively.But from ESPN's perspective, the shake-up was a taxing moment for the company. And certainly, it created more instability within its power structure.McAfee didn't just clash with executives. He also clashed with one of his most notable coworkers, .Smith and McAfee had an "explosive argument" during a phone call as the New York Post reportedMarch 7, 2024. The dispute stemmed from "creative differences involving a yet-to-be-announced project" produced by Smith and set to air on ESPN, per the report.McAfee went as far as calling Smith a "motherf"as part of the dispute.The clash between McAfee and Smith evidently cleared up quickly. Smith said he had "no i sue" with McAfee and denied he had banned the former punter from appearing on "First Take." Meanwhile, McAfee said he has"nothing but love for Stephen A."Still, that ESPN's two most recognizable talents had a head-to-head blow-up couldn't have been easy for the network to navigate, however short-lived it was. And once again, McAfee's fiery personality had the network in the headlines for the wrong reasons.MORE: On March 25, 2024, McAfee came under fire for a segment on his show involving Connor Campbell, also known as "Boston Connor."In the sketch, Campbell played a character called"Donny Don Don" who was "reporting" on the latest sports rumors from a steel mill. One of Crystal Palace Jersey the rumors was about Keisei Tominaga, who starred for Nebraska's basketball team before the Cornhuskers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.The punch-line was that a ritualisticmethod of suicide often used by samurais during the Edo period (1600-1857) after the Cornhuskers lost to Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament."Rumor has it that our favorite player, Keisei Tominaga, is no longer with us," Campbell said. "And Im not saying hes no longer with us because the Nebraska Cornhuskers lost by 50. He actually performed seppuku on himself."The bit didn't end with that punch line. McAfee and Campbell continued to run with it, as the host argued Tominaga was alive while Campbell described the act in great detail.Stabbed himself through the chest in the heart because he felt as though he brought a dishonor to himself, his family, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Now that is just what Im hearing at the rumor mill. I have not confirmed yet with the obituary whether or not hes actually dead."McAfee still shared the clip on his social media accounts. He didn't face any consequences for the sketch from ESPN, as the network didn't publicly acknowledge the clip.McAfee got himself into hot water while trying to prop up Caitlin Clark amid the up-and-down start to her rookie season.McAfee was attempting to praise the impact Clark has had on the WNBA through her first 11 games of the season. In doing so, he not only referred to her in a disrespectful way, but he also di sed the rest of her rookie cla s."I would like the media people that continue to say, 'This rookie cla s, this rookie cla s, this rookie cla s.' Nah, just call it for what it is," McAfee said. "There's one white b for the Indiana team who is a superstar."Unsurprisingly, McAfee calling Clark a "white b" in his analysis of her performance was poorly received. Many called the talk show host and ESPN out on social media for his characterization of Clark. They also called out the juxtaposition of his call for everyone to respect Clark while he simultaneously called her a derogatory term.To his credit, McAfee apologized for his terminology just hours after making the comments. He also said he reached out to Clark himself to ask for forgivene s.I shouldnt have used white bitch as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark. No matter the context.. even if were talking about race being a reason for some of the stuff happening.. I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe.My intentions when saying Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) Still, McAfee's comments drew plenty of for himself and ESPN. The network didn't comment on what he said, but given how closely it works with the WNBA, it's hard to imagine that ESPN didn't reach out to McAfee behind the scenes to discu s his comments.Serena Williams, the host of this year's ESPYs, used some of her stage time to call out McAfee for his portrayal of Clark earlier in the summer. Speaking alongside older sister and tennis legend, in her own right Venus and comedian and star of "Abbott Elementary" Quinta Brunson, Williams made a not-so-subtle dig at McAfee.The trioran through a list of acceptable terms when referring to female athletes, starting with "athlete," "champion," and even "dumba s." Brunson was quick to mention that all athletes, sometimes, are dumba ses."Just don't use the b-word," they said in unison as the crowd cheered. "You know who you are," added Serena.McAfee has never been afraid to hide his feelings on a topic, even if it were to go against the company line. He added to that legacy on July 16, unleashing a torrent of criticism against ESPN's decision to curate a list of the top 100 profe sional athletes of the 21st century.Teasing an appearance with fellow ESPNer Dan Orlovsky, McAfee lit into ESPN's latest listicle, claiming it epitomized "everything that everybody hates about ESPN."Pat McAfee nukes ESPN's recent list of their Top 100 athletes of the 2000s... on ESPN!"It is the epitome of everything that everybody hates about ESPN... what a shitshow." Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) "What a sh--show," McAfee said. "What an absolutely terrible list. And we'll blame Dan Orlovsky for that."Orlovsky may have cast a ballot for the list. However, the decision to create such a contentious piece of content was undoubtedly determined by someone else. The fact that McAfee had such venom for ESPN's latest innovation one designed, inevitably, to drum up some debate while FC Barcelona Jersey having the ESPN logo nestled neatly into the corner of his screen was especially captivating.
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