AEW’s Jeff Hardy was arrested on June 13 in Volusia County, Florida on multiple charges, including driving under the influence (with a Blood Alcohol Content Level well over three times the legal limit) and driving with a suspended license. He has since been suspended from All Elite Wrestling without pay and pled Not Guilty to the charges. It was then confirmed via court documents obtained by Wrestling Inc. that Hardy now has an arraignment and bond hearing on Aug. 2, rescheduled from July 5.
While Jeff has remained silent about the incident, both Tony Khan and Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy have spoken out publicly. Khan announced the suspension days after the arrest, wanting to make contact with Jeff first before making the decision.
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“We were able to resume contact with Jeff Hardy this afternoon. AEW does not condone Jeff’s alleged behavior. We’ve made it clear to Jeff that we’ll assist him in getting treatment for substance abuse issues, which he has indicated that he’s open to receiving. In the interim, he is suspended without pay, and he can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety,” Khan’s statement read.
Meanwhile, Matt tweeted out, “It was disheartening to hear the news about my brother yesterday. Recovery isn’t a linear process & I’ll continue doing whatever I can to help my brother be healthy. Being healthy & well is the most important thing for Jeff, his wife, his children & our family at this time.”
Khan has since indicated Jeff will have one last chance to prove his sobriety in order to stay employed with the promotion. Jeff was released from WWE back in December, then jumped to AEW several months later.
“Jeff is doing much better. As I understand, Jeff’s in treatment. I don’t want to say too much about what’s going on, because it’s his business, but I’m here for him, whatever he needs.” Khan said during a media conference call ahead of Forbidden Door.
“I’m really glad nobody got hurt,” Khan continued, pushing back against comparisons made between Jeff’s arrest and Jon Moxley entering rehab last year. “But what Jeff did going out and driving is different from the other thing. And I just don’t like hearing them the two compared, if that makes sense. I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Jeff a lot of credit for now doing the right thing. And this is what we said — Jeff’s got to do the right thing if he wants to stay with AEW. Because it’s his last chance. It’s totally different. Jon didn’t put anybody at risk like that, he wasn’t out drinking and driving … So that’s why I didn’t like hearing it compared. But I will say Jeff is in treatment and doing better. I talked to Matt about it the other day, and we’ll be here and we’ll support him for what he needs. This is what he had to do; he had to go to treatment to get us to keep supporting him at this time. And we are.”
