Aaron Rodgers has publicly disputed claims that he was responsible for the collapse of his relationship with actress Shailene Woodley, insisting on a podcast appearance that it was Woodley who ended things and returned his engagement ring, not the other way around. The intervention marks the NFL quarterback's most detailed public account yet of the split, pushing back on a narrative he says has painted him as having caused her depression by leaving her.

Speaking on "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward," Rodgers said he proposed in December 2021 and Woodley accepted, but that she later told him she needed to be with another man before marrying him, then removed the ring by March. He said the couple made further attempts to reconcile that ultimately failed, and that Woodley told him directly in 2021 that she no longer wanted to be with him. The pair, who dated from 2020 and were engaged in February 2021, called off the engagement in February 2022 and split for good that April; Woodley has previously described 2022 as a period of trauma and depression without detailing its cause, and Rodgers said a representative for her did not respond to a request for comment.