Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers get ‘loving’ and affectionate at friend’s wedding, report says
Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley put on a sweet display of affection at a friend’s wedding, as the formerly engaged couple are “talking things through” with their on-off relationship, reports say.
The pair were spotted at the wedding of Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers’ teammate David Bakhtiari, at the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, Entertainment Tonight reported. TMZ reported that Rodgers officiated the wedding, while “ET” said that he and the Hollywood star, dressed in a long sparkly dress, “packed on a little PDA,” an eyewitness told ET.
Aaron Rodgers may have disengaged from his fiancée, but he hasn't given up on love, because he officiated the wedding of one of his teammates. https://t.co/JV7i92wvHh
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 6, 2022
“During the cocktail hour she lovingly patted his behind as she was seated and he was standing next to her he and placed his hand around the back of her neck,” the eyewitness told ET. “On the way to the reception the pair was walking arm in arm as they made their way to the ballroom.”
Saturday’s sighting comes nearly two weeks after the pair were seen grabbing breakfast together at an upscale Los Angeles grocery store. Their breakfast outing took place the same day that Rodgers, 38, appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and made it sound like he and Woodley, 30, are still very much together.
Earlier in February, there were widespread reports that the couple had called off their year-long engagement after Rodgers failed to mention Woodley’s name or thank her when he accepted his fourth NFL Most Valuable Player award.
But Rodgers complicated this breakup narrative by telling McAfee that Woodley was his “person” and described her as the “incredible, talented, smart, kind” woman who has transformed his life. Because of Woodley, Rodgers said he had become a better, more grateful person, as well as an NFL quarterback who garnered two back-to-back MVP awards.
“When you have a partner like that, it makes life so much more enjoyable and tasteful and exciting,” Rodgers said in the highly anticipated interview with McAfee. “When you meet your person, life just changes, you cannot possibly not be changed by people around those special people you meet.”
Following Rodgers’ McAfee interview, Us Weekly quoted a source close to the couple who said that Rodgers and Woodley had indeed broken up and “were definitely over.” But the source also explained that they had reconsidered their split and were “talking things through.”
The source told Us Weekly that since Rodgers was in the off season, “he has more downtime and can focus more on a relationship.”
“Shailene is understanding and open — she hasn’t shut the door completely or (she) would’ve never agreed to meet up with him” the Us Weekly source continued, adding that they’re “talking things through and trying to keep things private.”
A source similarly told “ET” that Rodgers was making Woodley “a priority.”
“Shailene and Aaron broke up after the two spent a lot of time apart and couldn’t make it work,” the “ET” source said. “Aaron had told Shailene he’ll put more effort into the relationship and making her a priority. The two have been spending more time together recently and will see what the future holds.”
In his interview with McAfee, Rodgers acknowledged that one of the pressures on them had been the intense public backlash he received over his controversial statements about COVID-19 vaccines in November.
Rodgers admitted that the “Big Little Lies” star and others close to him had been drawn into the controversy after he tested positive for the virus, admitted he was not vaccinated and was accused of deliberately misleading reporters about his vaccine status, and of violating NFL COVID safety protocols.
During a now-infamous appearance on McAfee’s show in November, Rodgers railed about the “woke mob” and said he’d been getting medical advice from polarizing podcaster Joe Rogan — comments that led to him being widely accused of disseminating misinformation about the pandemic and of being an arrogant, narcissistic crackpot with a persecution complex.
Rodgers became the butt of jokes and suffered significant damage to his once-golden reputation as a likable American sports hero. The glow around him and Woodley, as a beloved celebrity super couple, also began to dim.
Rodgers sounded far more contrite in talking to McAfee last month. He said he was “sorry” for how the controversy affected Woodley and others.
“One thing I’m sad about and apologetic about is that I didn’t realize in the midst of the COVID conversations, how much my situation was affecting my loved ones and my people, the people who support me and love me,” Rodgers said.
Before apologizing for the COVID controversy, the former player for the Cal Golden Bears also talked about how his “home life” had been “so great” for his past two seasons — and that’s because of Woodley.
“I was telling Shai, I’ve been with you the past two seasons, two MVPs. That’s not a coincidence,” Rodgers told McAfee. “When the home life is stable and you have an amazing partner to do life with, it makes makes the work life a bonus.”