Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez found themselves doing an interview for the BTIG Charity Day, but questions veered in new directions quickly.
The long-rumored rift between Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez always made things a bit awkward between the two baseball superstars in their time together with the New York Yankees, but nothing beats their interview with CNBC on Tuesday.
The two sat side-by-side looking to answer questions from CNBC’s Bob Pisani for BTIG global financial services company’s Charity Day and talk about the charities they were representing for the day. Jeter was representing his Turn 2 Foundation, while Rodriguez showed support to the Boys & Girls Club of Miami.
However, Pisani clearly wasn’t interested in anything extensive on their charitable work, and the interview took an uncomfortable turn.
Pisani immediate brought up the infamous “beef” between the two players, which became a topic of conversation after Rodriguez took a dig at the shortstop in a 2001 interview. In a common theme of the interview, Jeter and Rodriguez both made fun of the question and joked about the channel being something that they weren’t.
“You’re bringing up stories from about 20 years ago, huh?” Jeter said, to which Rodriguez replied, “History Channel.”
Later on, Pisani turned attention to Monday night’s Met Gala and Rodriguez’s relationship with singer Jennifer Lopez. Immediately, Jeter and Rodriguez brought up how the interview had taken a turn and asked what show they were actually on.
Jeter asked Pisani, “What channel is this?” Rodriguez quickly replied, like their earlier joke, saying “E! Channel.”
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Pisani then continued to hop between topics and proceeded to ask Jeter about his intentions of bidding on the Miami Marlins alongside Jeb Bush. The former shortstop was not focused on answering questions about anything other than the charity event, and it was apparent Pisani wasn’t paying attention to many of the answers.
Pisani then asked Jeter how he enjoyed last night’s Met Gala, just minutes after Rodriguez had told the reporter that the former Yankee wasn’t at the event last night.
All in all, the event may have been a success, but the two MLB legends will likely not forget the awkwardness of this one interview out of the few hours they were there.