In a recent incident involving the end of their engagement, actress Shailene Woodley was met with questions regarding her former partner Aaron Rodgers. The exchange took place shortly after Rodgers made headlines with his comments on a podcast, where he appeared to debate narratives surrounding their relationship.
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Rodgers, the 42-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, featured on his teammate Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast on 10 September 2023. During the episode, he expressed disagreement with how Woodley has portrayed their romance, which primarily took place between early 2021 and early 2022. The couple became engaged shortly after they began dating but called off their engagement a little over a year later in February 2022.
In his remarks on the podcast, Rodgers stated, “I date Shailene, I propose and she says yes. She maybe felt like she was forced to make a decision, she could have said no.” He further alleged that not long after their engagement, Woodley expressed a desire to separate. “Because her story is, I ruined her life and gave her crazy depression because I left her, but in actuality she told me that and took off the ring by March,” he added, asserting that there was a lack of genuine communication between them.
When Woodley was later approached by a TMZ reporter during a pre-Emmy Awards event in Los Angeles on 13 September, the actress chose to respond with laughter and did not engage further, opting instead to walk away with a friend. This brief encounter reflects the actress’s reluctance to delve into the details of her past relationship with Rodgers.
Woodley, now 34, has previously expressed that her time with Rodgers was particularly challenging. In a 2023 interview with Net-a-Porter, she described the period when she filmed the Showtime series “Three Women” as “the darkest, hardest time in my life.” She remarked on how the combined pressures of her personal struggles and her work created an intense environment of emotional turmoil. “I was so grateful that at least I could go to work and cry and process my emotions through my character,” she noted.
The actress has consistently shared how overwhelming public interest in her relationship with the NFL star felt, labelling it as something she had not encountered before. In another interview conducted in 2024, she revealed how discussing her time with Rodgers often brought her to tears and indicated that she suffered from depression in the aftermath of their split.
In his podcast comments, Rodgers also touched upon his previous relationship with former professional racing driver Danica Patrick, suggesting that the narratives surrounding both of his past romances painted him unfavourably. He remarked, “There’s just a lot of narratives out there that are just not true, and they portray things a certain way because they can get away with it.” He added, “The height of their fame was when they were with me,” alluding to the public attention attracted during his relationships.
Since their split, both Woodley and Rodgers have moved on with their lives. Woodley is set to appear in the upcoming Netflix movie “Unabomber,” which is scheduled to stream from 25 September 2026. Meanwhile, Rodgers recently started the new NFL season on a high note, leading the Steelers to a 20-13 victory against the Atlanta Falcons on 13 September.
As both individuals navigate their separate paths, it appears that the remnants of their relationship, marked by moments of joy and pain, will continue to echo in the media and public discourse. Each has their own story to tell, but for now, Woodley seems content to leave the past behind, while Rodgers addresses the narratives constructed around their time together.