Aaron Rodgers says he was never asked to brother Jordan’s ‘Bachelorette’ dinner

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

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

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

The dinner scene included everyone in Rodgers’ family except 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 to everybody” in his family, though he says he was close to Jordan growing up before “things from high school made me feel distant, things in college , things at post college.”

“I was quiet about it because I thought the best way to do it was not to talk about it publicly,” Rodgers continues. “And what did they do? They go to a bulls— show and leave two empty chairs. They all agreed that this was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show like my brother just became famous for — 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 have gone.”

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

“There were a lot of times when I got really 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 like, you don’t see me,” Rodgers says while discussing his family waste. “This is not something I ever wanted or wanted, other than to play on Sundays.”

The New York Jets star says fame “can definitely change people around you 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, it’s still consumed by organized religion, which works for them, it’s great,” Rodgers says. “As much as they might not like what they see, (I have) love, respect and gratitude for how I was raised because it wouldn’t have made me who I am today.”

Ultimately, Rodgers says there is still hope to end the family feud with his brothers, which at times over the years has appeared to be healing and at other points has seemed to worsen.

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