Former WWE wrestler Brian Kendrick was pulled from his debut match for AEW (All Elite Wrestling) after his remarks about the Holocaust, 9/11 and Sandy Hook resurfaced.
Mr Kendrick, who had been due to appear on AEW Dynamite on Wednesday, had been released from his contract by WWE the day before when the past comments appeared on social media.
Among the events Mr Kendrick appeared to express conspiracies about where the Holocaust, the 9/11 terror attacks the school shooting in Sandy Hook.
He tweeted on Wednesday: “I apologise for all the hurt and embarrassment I have caused with my words. These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line.”
The president of AEW, the second biggest wrestling promoter behind WWE, meanwhile confirmed the reports and said ahead of Wednesday’s show: “We’ve been made aware of abhorrent and offensive comments made in the past by Brian Kendrick.”
“There’s no room in AEW for the views expressed by Brian. We think it’s best for all that Brian be pulled from tonight’s card as we gather more info. We’ll announce a replacement bout ASAP,” wrote Tony Khan.
That came after a journalist, David Bixenspan, tweeted a video from 2011 in which Kendrick made false and antisemitic claims about “the illuminati”, the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds “interbreeding” to make “reptilians” that would take over the world.
The idea is well known among QAnon and far right fringe groups.
An interview from 2013 was also shared on social media on Wednesday in which Mr Kendrick told the Culture Crossfire website that he was “a conspiracy nut”, and expressed beliefs that the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 was “suppose to help lead to our guns being removed”.
Students accounted for 20 of the 26 who were shot during the attack on the Florida high school.
Mr Kendrick added in that interview that the Holocaust – the systemic genocide against European Jews by Nazi Germany – was “overblown” and suggested that 9/11 was staged by the US government. The theories are again well known among sections of the far right.
The wrestler added in an apology: “I spread the most vile comments without thinking of the damage it would cause. I will live with this regret for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.”
