Reporter Molly Knight, formerly of The Athletic, responded to Aaron Rodgers after he misidentified her as the author of The Wall Street Journal’s ‘COVID toe’ article.
On Wednesday, Rodgers shot down the idea that he has “COVID toe.”
“It’s actually called disinformation when you perpetuate false information about an individual,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “I have a fractured toe. So I expect a full apology from Molly Knight and whoever her editors was. I did get a kick out of reading that article. That was very, very interesting. But, no, I never heard of COVID toe before. Pat made a joke about it on the show, and I mentioned yesterday that it’s, you know, worse than a turf toe, and it must be a bone issue.
I can’t believe I have to again come on the air and talk about my medical information. But, yeah, I have a fractured toe. I’ve never heard of COVID toe before. I have no lesions on my feet. That’s just a classic case of disinformation. It’s surprising coming from what used to be a reputable journalistic institution, but that’s the world we live in these days.”
Knight responded on Twitter.
“Today I tweeted a link to a Wall Street Journal story about Aaron Rodgers, then went to a spin class and then the local homeless feed where I volunteer. Apparently Rodgers mentioned me by name in a press conference, because when I finished my work my social media feeds were full of unpleasant comments from Rodgers’ fans. I didn’t write the article Rodgers is upset about, but I guess in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal. I would like to thank Aaron for directing traffic to my Twitter feed, where I am raising money for blankets for our unhoused neighbors. It’s getting cold, and the number of people who need help in Southern California has ballooned in recent years, so every bit of awareness helps.”
While she did not write it, she did post the link on Twitter.
Rodgers said he expected an apology from the newspaper but added that he did “get a kick out of reading that article.
The fractured toe was so problematic in Sunday’s 34-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that Rodgers actually went into the locker room before the first half ended.
It didn’t hurt his performance as he poured in 385 yards and four touchdowns.
