Charles Barkley said Wednesday he believed that Aaron Rodgers crossed the line when he made a Jeffrey Epstein remark while talking about Jimmy Kimmel last week.
As the feud between Rodgers and Kimmel exploded over the last few days, Barkley appeared on "CBS Mornings" and was asked about the ongoing back-and-forth between the two.
"There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who are really hoping that doesn’t come out," Rodgers said last week on "The Pat McAfee Show." "I'll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle."
Gayle King asked what Barkley would do if Rodgers had said that about him.
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"I would have punched him in the face," Barkley said. "I think that when you’re in the limelight, people get to say things about you — that goes with the territory — but when you start comparing people, saying you’re hanging out with pedophiles and people having sex with underage girls, that’s dangerous."
Barkley said he "loved" Kimmel’s response. The comedian retorted on Monday on his late-night show after threatening a lawsuit.
Barkley added that what Rodgers did was "slander."
Rodgers, on this past Tuesday’s "Pat McAfee Show," he never called Kimmel a pedophile.
"I was referring to the fact that if there’s a list, which again, this hasn’t come out yet. There was just a deposition, and there are names on it, then that would be the second time that soft brained, junior college student, wacko, anti-vax, antisemite, purveyor, spreader of misinformation, conspiracy theorist, MAGA, whatever other things that have been said by him and other people in the media would be right twice," Rodgers said.
"Let me just say, that is the truth, No. 1. No. 2, I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be. So, for him to be upset about that, I get it. Did you watch the quote because that’s exactly what I said? Verbatim. What I said on the show."
The four-time NFL MVP said he wasn’t "stupid enough" to levy a pedophilia claim at the late-night host.
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"I’m not stupid enough, even though you think I’m an idiot, and you made a lot of comments about my intelligence. But I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence. That’s ridiculous. I’m glad, and I think we can agree on something is that, one, those crimes are heinous and, two, and I’m glad you’re not on a list because those who are on the list — and this is what I think we can agree on — that, at minimum, there should be an inquiry into their involvement. Especially if they went to the island. And, at maximum, there should be an investigation into it," he said.
"I hope he will give the same type of energy to these heinous crimes when they do come out and the names do come out and there is an inquiry into it that you gave to other subjects that I actually mentioned that you spent a lot of time working on."
Rodgers maintained he didn’t care what Kimmel said about him.
"To sum this up, I still haven’t popped a bottle because there still hasn’t been any list that’s come out," he said. "I’m glad Jimmy is not on the list. I really am, and I don’t think he’s the p-word. I think it’s impressive that a man who went to Arizona State and has 10 joke writers, can read off a prompter. My education at JUCO and my three semesters at Cal that I’m very proud of has worked out for me, and I’m glad to see it’s worked out for him as well.
"I wish him the best. Again, I don’t give a s--- what he says about me. But as long as he understands what I actually said and that I’m not accusing him of being on a list. I’m all for moving forward."
Rodgers explained what Kimmel said in 2020 and 2021 about him after he explained his immunization efforts against COVID instead of getting the vaccine. He also had an issue with Kimmel having Dr. Anthony Fauci on his show to talk about the illness and the vaccine.
He also pointed to Kimmel calling him names and making assertions because he was concerned about the Epstein list in 2023.
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