The WWE and wrestling at large has its own ugly history with racism and Black wrestlers. Do some cursory research on Virgil, Koko B. Ware, Kamala, and the Junkyard Dog. 

The Vince McMahon run company issued a statement regarding Myles’ claim stating, “Albert Hardie Jr. (aka Jordan Myles) approved this t-shirt for sale. As always, we work collaboratively with all of our performers to develop logos and merchandise designs and get their input and approval before proceeding. This was the same process with Albert, and we responded swiftly once he later requested that the logo/t-shirt be redesigned. No t-shirts were sold.”

Myles said he saw the original design and was uncomfortable with it and countered with another design.

A fan took to Twitter in defense of Myles saying the shirt looks “very similar to blackface.”

As the WWE said in its statement, no shirts were sold and a redesign of some kind happened. 

It seems this entire incident has taken a toll on Myles. In a recent Instagram post, Myles apologized for the tweets calling them “disrespectful” and “unprofessional.” He also apologized for the way he handled the situation thus far, “I have offended a ton of people and used anger to fuel me,” the post read in part. 

Myles maintains his stance on the shirt being offensive and insists he’s “been lied too, used, and often mistreated by others who I viewed as associates.”

The WWE has not responded to this latest statement.

With regards to the shirt and whether or not approval was given, who at the WWE thought a design like this was a good idea? 

This controversy and Myles’ subsequent comments highlight yet another example of the everyday microaggressions Black and brown people face.