During his post-show press conference following the AEW Worlds End pay-per-view on Saturday, the wrestling promotion’s owner and president Tony Khan was asked about allegations of sexual harassment that had been made against one of the company’s top stars, Chris Jericho, on social media.
While Khan didn’t address the allegations directly, he did defend AEW’s policy regarding such matters.
“It’s something we’re very serious about. We’ve had a policy in place and certainly I think anytime there’s anything like that, we would make sure we do everything we can to prevent that,” Khan said. “AEW has the best safety record, I believe, of any pro wrestling company in the world. I believe we have the most safe environment. I believe we have the best safety record of any pro wrestling company and I would hold the record of AEW on safety against any pro wrestling company in the world and I think AEW is the safest place for pro wrestling. And if any of our pro wrestlers have a concern, they always have an open line to talk to me. I believe anybody would sit here and tell you they always can talk to me anytime they are concerned about anything.
“If there was anything that came to light to me, I would take it to the disciplinary committee and that’s how we’ve been doing it. I think the disciplinary committee has been doing a great job and everybody knows they have an open line to me or anybody on that committee.”
Asked directly whether Jericho had ever been the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation while in the company, Khan declined to confirm or deny, stating, “I can’t speak to internet and unsourced rumors,” before referring back to his previous answer regarding AEW’s harassment policy.
The allegations against Jericho began when longtime wrestling reporter Nick Hausman invoked convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein while discussing the wrestling star’s backstage behavior during an episode of his Rumor & Innuendo podcast.
“There are issues with Chris behind the scenes where I know of a lot of people who have been hurt by Chris and his actions,” Hausman said. “It’s very uncomfortable to me to see him lauded as often as he is with only the focus on that because I do think there are a lot of questionable stories about Chris that will find there way out over time and when people are ready to tell those stories that will cast him in a very different light. I mean look, Harvey Weinstein won a lot of Oscars. Harvey Weinstein produced a lot of very popular films. Harvey Weinstein is now in jail. I’m not saying that’s going to happen to Chris, but the narrative could very quickly turn if you’re hiding a lot of skeletons in your closet.”
Nick Hausman says that there are a lot of stories about Chris Jericho that will find their way out over time when people are ready to tell those stories and then makes a Harvey Weinstein comparison. pic.twitter.com/bQiB9qDu2r
— BRAlNBUSTER (@brxinbuster) December 30, 2023
Hausman’s comments were only amplified when a former AEW female wrestler who had abruptly left the company following a short stint in 2019 responded with a heart emoji to a social media post naming her as one of Jericho’s potential accusers.
Adding to the strangeness of Saturday’s post-show press conference was that Hausman live-tweeted the scrum, encouraging reporters to press Khan further regarding Jericho. Hausman has been critical of AEW’s media practices in recent days and responded to a post from Jericho on Christmas Day by asking him, “what about the NDAs you make other people sign?”
Someone needs to follow up on the Jericho question and get a Yes or No from Tony.
— Nick Hausman (@Nick_Hausman) December 31, 2023
It's 2:15 am EST. Ask Tony about Jericho again.
— Nick Hausman (@Nick_Hausman) December 31, 2023
Khan managed to answer three questions about the subject on Saturday without actually discussing Jericho, but this doesn’t seem to be a story that’s going away. While Hausman’s initial comments regarding Weinstein were vague — and arguably unfair without further elaboration or reporting — the social media reply from the former wrestler legitimized this as a topic that Khan will likely have to (or at least should) address in a more direct manner in the near future.
