Aaron Rodgers says 'What happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy' in wake of report he believed in conspiracy theory

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Thursday that he believes “what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy” and that he did not believe that the “events did not take place.”

Rodgers made the statement to social media a day after a report from CNN detailing two accounts from people who said they heard Rodgers tell them that the Newtown, Conn., school shooting was a conspiracy and involved crisis actors.

One of the accounts was from the CNN reporter who wrote the story and another was relayed from someone else who had a similar conversation with Rodgers.

[CNN reporter Pamela] Brown was covering the Kentucky Derby for CNN in 2013 when she was introduced to Rodgers, then with the Green Bay Packers, at a post-Derby party. Hearing that she was a journalist with CNN, Rodgers immediately began attacking the news media for covering up important stories. Rodgers brought up the tragic killing of 20 children and 6 adults by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School, claiming it was actually a government inside job and the media was intentionally ignoring it.

When Brown questioned him on the evidence to show this very real shooting was staged, Rodgers began sharing various theories that have been disproven numerous times. Such conspiracy theories were also later at the center of lawsuits brought by victims' families when they sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the matter.