Gail Kim Releases Statement After Accusing McMahons and WWE of Racism

Last week former WWE Women’s Champion Gail Kim asserted on Twitter that the McMahon family perpetuated a racist culture during her time with the company. On Tuesday, Kim decided to clarify her claims, but not without sticking to her guns.

In a series of tweets with fans, Gail appeared to pinpoint the McMahons for enabling and potentially supporting racism behind WWE’s curtain. However, Kim has given her comments some thought and thinks her take needed more context.

“After speaking with a couple of friends recently regarding my comments on social media on racism, I had my eyes opened to the fact that my words chosen to deliver my message could have been managed more thoughtfully. The one word of my statement that I regret using is the term “they”. I think due to the fact that sometimes terms like racism are thrown around easily, especially in today’s climate. Racism is a serious thing and I realized that saying “they”, that I was putting a blanket over everyone who works in the company. This is not true. The culture or environment of a company starts from the top. The leadership. The leadership of a company sends a message to its employees of what is tolerated and what is not. I know there are a lot of respectful people in WWE who have a lot of integrity,” she wrote.

After a fan jabbed at the McMahons for mishandling Hulk Hogan’s racist scandal, Kim responded “Plus they’re racist anyway. They don’t care if anyone is racist Bc they have the same thoughts.”

Kim continued to use “they” in what appeared to be a specific reference to the McMahons. But in her latest statement, she seemed to shift her blame away from the McMahons specifically in favor of underlining the regular use of racial slurs backstage.

“Being Election Day and realizing the climate of hate and negativity, I think it’s important to use my voice. As an ethnic female in wrestling, there will be people reading my words and I want to set and example. I did experience racism. I never even understood the term “gook” until I worked for the company or heard the usage of so many ugly racial slurs. I think it’s important to educate, listen and talk about these issues. I want to be very clear where I stand. I want racial and gender equality. I hope that we can make strides to talk about and create change for the good of our industry and others,” she said.

In her earlier tweets, Gail took heat for her comments as fans pointed out the minorities WWE has employed, including herself. Another fan underlined that she was made WWE Champion and was actually hired a second time by the company. However, Kim said it was her second run with WWE that saw the aforementioned ugliness.

WWE has yet to comment on Kim’s story, but this is a situation worth monitoring.

[H/T WrestleZone]