Aaron Rodgers claims drug companies advertise on the news to ‘control the messaging’

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers argued Wednesday that the reason drug companies and “Big Pharma” spend so much money on advertising with news channels is to “control the messaging.”

The football player, who is no stranger to making controversial statements, made his assessment during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. Rodgers has also been critical of the COVID-19 vaccine, choosing alternative means to combat coronavirus.

“Why are these drug companies and Big Pharma spending so much money on advertisements during the news?” Rodgers said on the podcast. “It’s not to sell their products. They don’t have a problem with that. It’s to control the messaging. They control the f***ing message.”

Rodgers added that if a news station told someone they were not allowed to advertise on their network, it would be because they were “anti-science.” He also suggested that these networks would blacklist people not because they were legitimately against what someone said but rather because they were bought out by the drug companies who buy up their ad time.

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The football player, who has jokingly called Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “Mr. Pfizer” in reference to a Pfizer commercial that Kelce starred in last year, offered to participate in a debate between him and Kelce on vaccinations. Rodgers suggested that he would get 2024 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine critic, and Kelce could get Dr. Anthony Fauci “or some other pharmacrat.”

Earlier this year, Rodgers sparked controversy between him and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers claimed Kimmel was concerned about the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s flight list, resulting in Rodgers being booted from McAfee’s show. Rodgers has since denied making any accusation that Kimmel’s name would appear on the Epstein list.