Aaron Rodgers addressed the rumor that he is gay by saying the gossip report is not true and that he really likes women.
Rodgers discussed the rumor on his radio show Tuesday.
“I’m just going to say I’m not gay. I really really like women,” Rodgers said on his radio show on 540 ESPN Milwaukee.
According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Lori Nickel, a fan asked Rodgers about the positives and negatives of his fame. Rodgers says he got a text message from Justin Timberlake after the Packers’ win over the Bears. That was an example of the positive. Then he brought up the gay rumor as an example of the negative aspect of the fame.
Here’s the audio from the show:
If you’re unaware of the story, about a week ago a website posted a story stating that Rodgers was gay. They said Rodgers’ personal assistant — a man named Kevin Lanflisi — was also Rodgers’ boyfriend. Lanflisi also lived with Rodgers.
The Fame Driven posted a bunch of subliminal tweets and photos from Lanflisi as their evidence. That was all circumstantial evidence at best. But the report said Rodgers was one of the handful of gay athletes who was prepared to come out over the summer as a group before backing out. You may recall that ex-Baltimore Ravens LB Brendon Ayanbadejo mentioned this story in April. The site said Rodgers backing out upset Lanflisi and was part of the reason the two split. That’s where the report went from being circumstantial and speculative to authoritative.
We can confirm that Lanflisi was Rodgers’ assistant, but we have no idea about the extent of their relationship beyond Lanflisi being a valuable member of Rodgers’ team off the field until their recent split..
Though the report was published over a week ago, it gained traction on Monday and was legitimized by Radar Online. Radar Online is major gossip outlet that reported about it, citing the report from The Fame Driven as its source. Rodgers-related search queries about him being gay or having a girlfriend dominated the Internet on Monday, so it’s obvious the rumor spread. And that brought us to this point.
We have no idea about Rodgers’ sexual preference, nor do we really care. What we can tell you is that a woman named Destiny Newton has long been rumored to be Rodgers’ girlfriend. She is from his hometown of Chico. Rodgers has also been linked to actress Jessica Szohr and sports reporter Erin Andrews.
H/T Deadspin for the audio
