Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer, Gail Kim, has released a personal statement regarding her recent remarks. Kim recently made some headlines when she referred to WWE as “racist.”
Please read my personal statement pic.twitter.com/6tKfzqQLG9
— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) November 6, 2018
Gail Kim Personal Statement
“After speaking with a couple of friends recently regarding 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 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.”
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