Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who launched a social media broadside at NFL legend Aaron Rodgers while claiming he had no connection to sex offender and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, has been found to have one.
Chef Adam Perry Lang, a friend of Kimmel’s, was Epstein’s private chef, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
On Tuesday, the New York Jets quarterback suggested the comedian might appear on a list of people linked to Epstein’s case, part of which was released Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, are really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said on a podcast with ESPN’s Pat McAfee.
“I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle,” he said.
Kimmel responded on X with a threat to sue Rodgers.
“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,” he said Tuesday evening.
“Your reckless words put my family in danger,” Kimmel said. “Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court.”
WARNING: The following post contains vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive.
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… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024
However, a video of Lang and Kimmel talking about their friendship on the show “Extra” made the rounds on social media later Tuesday.
Jimmy Kimmel and his bff Adam Perry Lang who was Jeffrey Epstein’s personal chef for years. pic.twitter.com/6vQ9hL9wvV
— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) January 3, 2024
The list of names was part of a defamation lawsuit Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre filed against Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, which has since been settled. However, documents gathered in the case have been sought by media outlets.
The list was expected to include a wide variety of people, according to PBS, which stressed that it is not a client list.
Epstein’s accusers, staff members, witnesses at Maxwell’s trial, individuals deposed as part of the case and others who were contacts in some form were expected to be on the list.
Although Lang faced no charges, Giuffre has said he knows what took place.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019, but he was found dead in his jail cell before the trial. His death was labeled a suicide.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2022 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In a 2020 interview on the podcast “Broken: Seeking Justice,” Giuffre spoke about Lang and her disappointment that he never went public with everything he knew, according to the New York Post.
She said she had tried to reach Lang at a Hollywood restaurant he operates, of which Kimmel is a backer.
Giuffre called it “heartbreaking” that Kimmel’s friend has not gone public with what he knew about the “most prolific sex trafficking ring of modern times.”
“He’s gone now, he can’t hurt us anymore,” she wrote to Lang, asking him to “elevate yourself to the status of a hero.”
“You could help put together some of the missing pieces of my broken life,” Giuffre said. “Adam, don’t be an enabler, be a hero.”
She said “everybody who went into Jeffrey’s house knew what was going on.”
“You couldn’t be [even] a pizza delivery boy and walk in Epstein’s houses and not know what was going on,” Giuffre said of “naked pictures everywhere, young girls everywhere.”
“Old dude, not married … it’s not hard to put 2 and 2 together,” she said.
Lang has said he was “unaware of the depraved behavior” of Epstein and has “great sympathy and admiration for the brave women who have come forward.”
