Aaron Rodgers Has Another Public Message for Ex-Fiancee Shailene Woodley

Aaron Rodgers is issuing a public apology to former fiancée Shailene Woodley after news broke last week that the two had split. The Green Bay Packers quarterback, 38, who confirmed in February 2021 that he and the Big Little Lies actress, 30, were engaged, apologized for how he handled his COVID-19 vaccine scandal on Tuesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

“One thing that I am sad about and definitely apologetic is I didn’t realize in the midst of the COVID conversations how much my situation was affecting my loved ones and my people,” the NFL player said. “I didn’t realize the kind of shrapnel that was being flaked off of what I felt like were the bullets coming at me because I was too locked in on me and defending myself and trying to get a message out.”

“I never wanted to be divisive in this whole thing, I really didn’t,” he continued. “The issue is polarizing, I get that, and I know there’s a lot of fear involved around that, but my intention was never to be divisive.” Giving Woodley a specific shoutout during the interview, the athlete said, “I am very sorry to those people, Shai and my loved ones.”

Rodgers added, “I didn’t realize the kind of shrapnel they’d be taking. … Understanding kind of the entire gravity of the situation I was thrust into and decided to speak on multiple times had an effect on a lot of people. To those people, I just say, ‘I’m sorry.’”

The football player found himself in hot water back in November 2021 when he tested positive for COVID-19 after previously claiming he had been “immunized.” After testing positive, Rodgers claimed he had undergone his own treatments to “stimulate my immune system to create a defense against COVID” after doing his own “research.” Rodgers denied lying about his vaccination status, but later acknowledged he understood why people felt “misled” by what he had said.

Throughout the scandal, Woodley defended her then-fiancé in public, firing back at reports that Rodgers had been photographed out and about in Los Angeles when NFL policy required him to quarantine. “Literally, y’all need to calm the f- down,” the Divergent star wrote on her Instagram Story at the time. “This is straight up HILARIOUS.” Denying that the man in the photos was her beau, Woodley continued, “I know Aaron’s body very well. First off, his feet, ahem and no offense to this rando dude, are a LOT bigger.”