Aaron Rodgers asserted that his ex-fiancée, Shailene Woodley, was at the peak of her fame during their relationship. Rodgers made these comments on the "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward" podcast days after Woodley received her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role in "Paradise."
"They get clicks when they say my name," Rodgers, 42, stated on the podcast regarding his exes, including former race car driver Danica Patrick. "Just like the idiots on TV get clicks when they say my name because I am a lightning rod."
Woodley, 34, won the Emmy at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday. She acknowledged her mother in her acceptance speech, expressing gratitude for her profession. "I just feel so lucky to do what we do and to be a part of the circus with all of you amazing traveling storytelling clowns," she said.
Woodley had established an acting career prior to her relationship with Rodgers, which began in 2020. Her breakthrough came with the ABC Family series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (2008-2013), followed by roles in the "Divergent" film series and "The Fault in Our Stars." She also held a significant role in "Big Little Lies," earning an Emmy nomination for her performance.
Rodgers and Woodley became engaged in December 2020, but their relationship ended by early 2022. During the podcast appearance, Rodgers claimed Woodley expressed a desire to sleep with someone else after accepting his proposal. "Maybe she felt like she was forced to make a decision. She could have said no," he said. "But a couple days after that, she tells me, ‘You know, before we get married, I gotta go f*** this guy.’"
Rodgers, who did not identify the person Woodley allegedly mentioned, stated that she ended their engagement in March 2021. He recalled attempts at reconciliation in 2021 that did not result in a renewed relationship. "There wasn’t even a relationship in 2022 to break off. She literally told me, ‘I don’t want to be with you,’ after we tried some reconciliation in 2021," he stated.
Woodley has spoken about the breakup, calling the split from Rodgers the "darkest, hardest time of [her] life" in a January 2023 interview. She described the period as "my personal life was s–tty, so it felt like a big pain bubble for eight months." In a 2024 interview, she characterized their relationship as "not right" and recalled an unspecified "really awful, traumatic" incident in early 2022 that left her feeling as though she "lost my soul, my self, my happiness, my joy," calling it "the lowest low of [her] life."