There’s already started to be some fallout from Dark Side of. theRing’s The Plane Ride from Hell episode, which explored a flight that ended up at the center of a lawsuit and alleged sexual harassment by several wrestlers, including Ric Flair. Flair denies that any sexual harassment happened, and eventually, WWE agreed to a settlement. Now one of Flair’s partnerships is on pause because of the renewed light on the incident. Intermedia, the advertising agency that handles Car Shield’s commercials, has explained that the commercial featuring Flair is being paused pending additional investigation.
Intermedia released a statement to PWInsider on the matter, saying “We take these matters very seriously.As of right now, we are pausing the campaign and we will do our due diligence.”
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Flair has been featured in several commercials for Car Shield, but those will disappear soon, and there is no timetable for them to return at this time.
The lawsuit was filed against Flair by the plane’s flight attendants, Taralyn Cappellano and Heidi Doyle. Cappellano and Doyle said Flair walked around the galley wearing only a cape, otherwise naked, and then put their hands on his privates and at one point backed Doyle up to an area in the galley where she couldn’t move.
Flair addressed the episode before it aired on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast, where he said he knows everything that happened during that flight and who was involved, and he will drop names.
“God, I’ve heard about it too. Just when things are going good for me. Listen, you [Renee Paquette] put me on your podcast after,” Flair said. “We’ll see how it plays out, because I was there and I don’t care whose name I gotta drop if the heat falls on me. I know who was where and what and who and what took place. I know the whole story.”
It remains to be seen if any legal action will occur because of the renewed attention or if that’s possible. There has been other fallout already, as Tommy Dreamer was suspended indefinitely by Impact Wrestling for his comments in the Dark Side of the Ring episode.
