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: Will ESPN suspend Pat McAfee? Latest updates after host’s Caitlin Clark comments, apology
Pat McAfee tweets joke about disgraced doctor Larry Nassar
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 Nassar.
Nassar is a disgraced doctor who was charged with possession of child pornography and sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls. McAfee’s tweet cracked that Nassar — 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 Nassar was in on the design team actually
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 30, 2023
Naturally, McAfee’s post sparked immediate outrage. Many called upon him to delete it as it was disrespectful to the victims who had endured Nassar’s abuse during his two decades at Michigan State and USA Gymnastics.
McAfee chose to leave it up. He then spoke about the post on his show, 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, McAfee quipped that Michigan State alumni were “trying to silence some media whenever they acknowledge that Larry Nassar.”
McAfee also expressed his belief that joking about Nassar 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 motherf—er 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 address it. The reply remains up to this day.
Aaron Rodgers goes after Jimmy Kimmel on Pat McAfee Show
Despite McAfee’s Nassar tweet, the first few months of the “Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN went relatively smoothly. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers — a noted opponent of vaccines — took a veiled shot at Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for his appearance in a Pfizer 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 — a collection of hundreds of documents from a lawsuit related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In doing so, Rodgers took a shot at comedian Jimmy Kimmel, 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.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said, before adding, “If that list comes out, I’ll definitely be popping some sort of bottle.”
Kimmel was unimpressed by Rodgers’ remarks and implied on X (formerly Twitter) that he could seek out a defamation suit after Rodgers’ “reckless words put [his] family in danger.”
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.
McAfee tried to defuse the situation by referring to it as Rodgers “talking s—.” Kimmel addressed 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 isn’t an opinion nor is it trash talk, sorry Pat McAfee,” Kimmel said.
Rodgers later addressed Kimmel’s monologue on McAfee’s show. The Jets quarterback swore multiple times on ESPN’s airwaves during his unhinged rant.
Shortly thereafter, McAfee announced Rodgers would no longer be on the show during the NFL season.
MORE: How ESPN used Pat McAfee for 2024 NFL Draft coverage
Pat McAfee calls out ESPN executive Norby Williamson
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.
“We’re very appreciative, and we understand that more people are watching this show than ever before. We’re 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, I’m not 100 percent sure. That is just seemingly the only human that has information, and then that information gets leaked, and it’s 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. That’s a sabotage attempt. It’s been happening this entire season from some people who didn’t necessarily love the old addition of ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ to the ESPN family. There’s a lot of those.”
McAfee further detailed that he felt like he was “at war” with Williamson 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 impossible 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.
Pat McAfee vs. Stephen A. Smith beef
McAfee didn’t just clash with executives. He also clashed with one of his most notable coworkers, Stephen A. Smith.
Smith and McAfee had an “explosive argument” during a phone call as the New York Post reported March 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 issue” 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: Why Pat McAfee joined ESPN, explained
Pat McAfee Show cohost makes racist joke about Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga
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 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 Tominaga, who is Japanese, committed seppuku — a ritualistic method 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 I’m not saying he’s 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 I’m hearing at the rumor mill. I have not confirmed yet with the obituary whether or not he’s 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.
Pat McAfee calls Caitlin Clark ‘white b—’
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 dissed the rest of her rookie class.
“I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class.’ 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 forgiveness.
I shouldn’t have used “white bitch” as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark. No matter the context.. even if we’re 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… pic.twitter.com/F6OHB4gvYh
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 3, 2024
Still, McAfee’s comments drew plenty of negative attention and social media reaction for himself and ESPN. The network didn’t comment on what he said, but given home closely it works with the WNBA, it’s hard to imagine that ESPN didn’t reach out to McAfee behind the scenes to discuss his comments.
