Former WWE Superstar AJ Lee (AJ Mendez-Brooks) was recently interviewed by The New York Post to promote her new book, Crazy Is My Superpower and revealed WWE sidelined her for months back in 2012 for refusing to participate in a storyline she found offensive.
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AJ suffers from bipolar II disorder and writes about her experience living with the condition in her book. Back in 2012, she had already spoken publicly about her mother’s battle with bipolar disorder, but not her own. Playing off her “crazy chick” character, WWE pitched her a storyline that involved her “taking part in a series of goofy skits in which her character hallucinated, kissed a leprechaun and danced with dinosaurs from outer space”.
AJ was offended by the angle, refused to participate and as a result, WWE pulled her from television and took her off the road for several months.
“It felt like it disrespected both me and my mother. It was a joke, but, to me, it wasn’t something to laugh at.”
AJ hopes her book teaches others battling mental illness that they’re not alone and it can be overcome. “I want to show that they’re not something that’s going to stop you,” she said.
