During the September 4 edition of Grilling JR with Jim podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer commented on the recent lawsuit filed against AEW by Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins (Brandon and Brendon).
“When you sign your contract, you agree to the terms,” JR said. “And that would include being an independent contractor…the Plaintiffs (Kelly & the Tates) will run out of money before Tony Khan does,” he continued. “I don’t hold out much hope they’re going to get any kind of settlement whatsoever but maybe I’m wrong. I’m not a judge or a lawyer or anything along those lines…I don’t like those kinds of lawsuits. I think they are frivolous. You would think that guys could get together and could work out something before going to spending their money on a lawyer who’s probably doing it on a ‘if you win, you get this, if you don’t win, no harm, no foul.’ Well, there is harm, there is foul but you knew what you were doing when you signed your deal…I’m not familiar with those two wrestlers you’re talking about (Brendan and Brandon Tate). I know who they are. Kevin Kelly’s been an old friend of mine for years. I was sad to see him leave. He just wasn’t happy, I think, he wanted a bigger role that wasn’t available to him and then all of a sudden he’s gone and it’s unfortunate and sad because he has a lot to offer.”
You can watch the segment below:
Kelly’s lawsuit alleges defamation from Ian Riccaboni and AEW, resulting from Riccaboni making disparaging comments on a discord channel regarding Kelly being involved with QAnon conspiracies. Kelly is seeking monetary damages, claiming that AEW breached his contract and that the situation has made it difficult for him to find work elsewhere. AEW fired Kelly this past March.
The Tate Twins were fired by Tony Khan back in April. Khan publicly stated Brandon and Brendon were released because they no-showed events. The brothers later said they no-showed due to miscommunication between themselves and management after they were booked to fly out of a different airport than what they would normally use. The twins claim they no-showed events is at the center of their defamation suit against Khan and AEW.
In addition, Kelly and the Tate twins are also requesting the court certify a class-action suit against AEW over the company misclassifying its talent as independent contractors rather than employees.
Quote Source: F4WOnline