If there’s anybody who knows what Pat McAfee is going through right now, it strangely enough might be Jemele Hill.
After all, the former SportsCenter host routinely found herself in hot water during her time at ESPN. That included a dustup she had with Chris Berman, who she says demanded an apology from her after she made reference to his thinning hair.
While McAfee isn’t currently quarrelling with any co-workers — that we know of — his show did provide a platform for Aaron Rodgers to imply that Jimmy Kimmel is on Jeffery Epstein’s associates’ list. The Pat McAfee Show airs on ESPN, while Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC, creating quite the conundrum for their shared parent company, Disney.
“ESPN, or someone, is going to have to rein this in,” Hill said during Wednesday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “We know there’s no more offensive crime in the universe of ESPN or Disney than host-on-host crime or talent-on-talent crime. There is no bigger offense. Ask Tony Kornheiser and Hannah Storm. Like there is no bigger thing. I experienced some of this myself when me and Chris Berman got into it behind the scenes and that escalated to a certain level of executive-ness. So we know how this happens.
Hill went on to speculate whether the recent controversy surrounding Rodgers could result in the end of his weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show.
“I just have a feeling that is when these conversations are totally going to get out of hand about what Aaron Rodgers is or isn’t allowed to say,” she said. “And there’s a part of me that wonders is this going to be the end of the weekly Aaron Rodgers appearances? Maybe not right now in the moment. But looking down the line, at some point, if you’re ABC or ESPN or those people who get paid to make these decisions, you wonder, ‘is it worth it to have him on if every week there is going to be some kind of headline of him saying something and us making headlines for the wrong reasons?'”
While Rodgers isn’t an ESPN employee, he is paid for his weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, albeit by the show and not the network itself. That’s likely a distinction that doesn’t matter to Kimmel, however, as the late-night host has already publicly threatened legal action against the four-time NFL MVP.
McAfee addressed the controversy on Wednesday’s episode of his show, largely pushing the blame to Rodgers, who he said was just trying to “talk s***.” But to Hill’s point, it’s likely a matter of not “if” but “when” Disney gets involved, perhaps not because of Rodgers’ comments, but rather, because of who his target was.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.