Olivia Munn on Aaron Rodgers family rift: 'It's not my story to tell'

USA Today

6 hours ago

Olivia Munn is shedding some light on a stubborn rumor about her romance with NFL player Aaron Rodgers.
Munn, who is now married to comedian John Mulaney, with whom she shares a child, was linked to Rodgers from 2014 to 2017. Now, she's speaking out on fan theories that she was behind a much-discussed rift between the Steelers quarterback and his family.
"There's this whole big narrative that stayed with me for so many years, but there was just this dynamic in the family that had nothing to do with me," Munn, 44, said in a recent appearance on the "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard" podcast.
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"It became this whole big thing, and people were like, 'I can't believe her, she's keeping this family apart,'" she added, explaining that while she had some understanding of the conflict, it was never her story to tell.
"People have speculated for many years what was the rift," she said, "and I know, but I'm not saying because it's not my story to tell." Rodgers, who has since married girlfriend Brittani, with whom his relationship is much more private, has been publicly splintered with his family for years.
That split broke even more into the public fore when, in 2016, Rodgers' younger brother Jordan Rodgers appeared on "The Bachelorette" and spoke publicly about the family's rift. While he stopped short of revealing the source of the conflict, the younger Rodgers, who ultimately got engaged to lead JoJo Fletcher, made the estrangement known.
During the "Hometowns" episode of the show, the elder Rodgers was notably absent, and as Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers were catapulted into fame, the brothers remain at a distance.
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Munn, for her part, said the constant speculation – and assumption that she was the root cause – was maddening.
"You've been asking for the longest time. This is the constant conversation. The man himself is saying it. They don't want that answer," she said on the podcast, referencing comments Rodgers himself made to shut down the rumor that Munn was responsible for the rift.
"I was really grateful that he did that," she added. "Even if people didn't want to take hold of that statement, it made me feel good that it was said."