Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Gail Kim took to Twitter today and issued a statement on her recent comments about WWE being racist. The former WWE Women’s Champion often speaks out about WWE and recently knocked them for holding the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
As seen below, Kim tweeted about WWE being racist on November 2 when responding to a comment about WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan being brought back at Crown Jewel. Kim made another tweet that day and reiterated her thoughts on the company being racist. You can see those original tweets here:
https://twitter.com/gailkimITSME/status/1058520486039183360
Oh ok Bc they hire people of ethnicity doesn’t mean they aren’t racist. It’s business number one. Two, you don’t know anything about what happens backstage mr diehard https://t.co/1ZXDE1ngYE
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 3, 2018
Below is Gail’s new statement on the matter along with follow-up tweets that make it clear she was not apologizing. She noted that she decided to issue the clarification on her original comments after a friend in WWE called her.
The statement reads like this: “After speaking with a couple of my 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. 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 an 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 on 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.”
Please read my personal statement pic.twitter.com/6tKfzqQLG9
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 6, 2018
Not apologizing let me make this clear. I’m CLARIFYING my message and not grouping the ones who don’t have the same beliefs. I’m making it clear that it comes from the top. https://t.co/q0zuom0Gm3
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 6, 2018
Nope. I wanted to be clear on my message if you must know Bc a friend called and thought I grouped them in with that. So for the respect of those people, I made this statement https://t.co/JMeMbRf1cp
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 6, 2018
When did I apologize? Last time I’m saying this. Not an apology. It was a clear statement of my message.
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 6, 2018
