Aaron Rodgers Says He ‘Was Never Asked’ to Join Infamous 2016 Bachelorette Dinner Where Family Rift Was Revealed

In a new Netflix documentary about Aaron Rodgers premiering on Tuesday, the NFL star sheds more light on the infamous 2016 Bachelorette dinner scene that first revealed a long-running rift between him and his family.

Rodgers, 41, says in the new documentary, Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, that he was “never invited” to the dinner date at the Rodgers family home, when his brother Jordan Rodgers, then a contestant on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, brought her home to meet his family.

The scene is largely remembered for introducing viewers and NFL fans alike to the estranged relationship Rodgers has with his family, in particular his younger brother Jordan and older brother Luke.

The dinner scene included everyone in Rodgers’ family, except for him and his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn. Their absence from the family dinner was emphasized by two empty chairs sitting at the table with the rest of the family: Jordan and his future wife JoJo, Luke and his girlfriend and the brothers’ parents Ed and Darla Rodgers.

Rodgers explains that he was never “super duper close with everybody” in his family, though he says he was close with Jordan growing up before “stuff from high school kind of made me feel distant, stuff in college, stuff in post college.”

“I was quiet about it, because I thought the best way to do it was don’t talk about it publicly,” Rodgers continues. “And what did they do? They go on a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs. They all agreed, like, this was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous — his words, not mine — that he ended up winning. But like, a dinner that was during the [NFL] season, that I was never asked to go to, not that I would’ve gone.”

Rodgers laments throughout the documentary that he never wanted the off-the-field fame that came with his football career, appearing in high-profile television commercials for companies like State Farm, and dating multiple celebrities, including Munn, fellow actress Shailene Woodley, and NASCAR star Danica Patrick.

“There was a lot of times when I became real famous, where I heard from a lot of people, including family members, where it was like, ‘Your life is too big, we need you to be smaller, be smaller. Don’t talk about your life,’ and it always hurt me because it’s just like, you don’t see me,” Rodgers says while discussing his family fallout. “This is not something I ever desired or wanted, other than playing on Sundays.”

The New York Jets star says fame “can definitely change the people around your circle, because it can be intoxicating.”

“So, definitely relationships changed after that — friendships, family,” Rodgers says, referring to his rising profile after winning the Super Bowl in 2010 and his first NFL MVP Award the next season.

Rodgers also credited his interest in “other religions and plant medicine” as contributing factors to his family rift.

“You know, they’re living the best they can, that is still engulfed in organized religion, which works for them, it’s great,” Rodgers says. “So, as much as they might not like what they see, [I have] love, and respect, and gratitude for how I was raised because it wouldn’t have turned me into who I am today.”

In the end, Rodgers says there’s still hope for ending the family feud with his brothers, which at times over the years has appeared to be healing, and at other points appeared to be getting worse.

“People ask me, like, is there hope for a reconciliation? I say, ‘Yeah, of course, of course.’ I don’t want them to fail, to struggle, to have any strife or issues. I don’t wish any ill-will on them at all. It’s more like this: We’re just different steps on the timeline of our own journeys.”