WWE Star Paige Discusses How Triple H's Joke Affected Her
The Anti-Diva speaks...
In an interview with members of the UK media ahead of NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, Triple H made a joke about Paige's past. In March 2017, Paige was the victim of an online hack which saw several sexually explicit videos and images released. She was also heavily scrutinised for her short engagement to Alberto Del Rio.
Triple H said: "When you're talking about people as talented as Edge and Paige, who wouldn't want them to return? I'm a fan just like everyone else and I would love to see them step into the ring and compete. More importantly than that though, I would like to see them live long, healthy lives. You know Edge has kids, Paige, maybe, she probably has some she doesn't know of."
The joke received a backlash from Paige and other women associated with WWE like Renee Young and Nikki Bella. The Game has since apologised to Paige for making the joke and the pair remain on good terms.
Paige recently appeared on the Chasing Glory With Lilian Garcia podcast, in which she explained how the joke provided people with the excuse to attack her and her family on social media, which affected her mental health. She clarified that she was only just coming to terms with the explicit images being on the internet when the joke suddenly dredged everything back up, causing her to return to therapy.
The Anti-Diva said: "I respect Hunter, he has always been respectful to me and he has always just been a gentleman, so when he made that joke it kind of just ignited this thing where it opened the door for all these fans to attack me and take pictures, and screenshots, and videos. And then, all of a sudden, it's being sent to Ronnie (Paige's boyfriend) and to my family and stuff like that all over again and it took me a couple of years to really get over it.
"Like I said earlier, I had to talk to four different therapists. I was thinking about suicide back then. I was in a really dark place. And then, knowing that I couldn't have kids too, so that whole joke was just bad! I was like, 'I can't have kids!' And then, all of a sudden, these videos are being brought up. So it was just all of this stuff, kind of like an influx of hatred just thrown at me by all these fans. And I'm just like, 'Damn, I was just getting over this, and now it all just came back again, and now I have poor Ronnie who has to be involved in all of this, and my family again has to be involved in this.'"
Later in the podcast, Paige admitted she was grateful for Triple H's apology and she knew he didn't mean to cause any harm with his comments.
She added: "Oh yeah, it definitely takes someone, a real man or a woman, to admit a mistake that they've made. And to publicly go out there and obviously apologise, it takes a lot because sometimes, like, you truly don't mean to offend someone, obviously. And in today's age, people can get offended a lot."
Triple H said: "When you're talking about people as talented as Edge and Paige, who wouldn't want them to return? I'm a fan just like everyone else and I would love to see them step into the ring and compete. More importantly than that though, I would like to see them live long, healthy lives. You know Edge has kids, Paige, maybe, she probably has some she doesn't know of."
The joke received a backlash from Paige and other women associated with WWE like Renee Young and Nikki Bella. The Game has since apologised to Paige for making the joke and the pair remain on good terms.
Paige recently appeared on the Chasing Glory With Lilian Garcia podcast, in which she explained how the joke provided people with the excuse to attack her and her family on social media, which affected her mental health. She clarified that she was only just coming to terms with the explicit images being on the internet when the joke suddenly dredged everything back up, causing her to return to therapy.
The Anti-Diva said: "I respect Hunter, he has always been respectful to me and he has always just been a gentleman, so when he made that joke it kind of just ignited this thing where it opened the door for all these fans to attack me and take pictures, and screenshots, and videos. And then, all of a sudden, it's being sent to Ronnie (Paige's boyfriend) and to my family and stuff like that all over again and it took me a couple of years to really get over it.
"Like I said earlier, I had to talk to four different therapists. I was thinking about suicide back then. I was in a really dark place. And then, knowing that I couldn't have kids too, so that whole joke was just bad! I was like, 'I can't have kids!' And then, all of a sudden, these videos are being brought up. So it was just all of this stuff, kind of like an influx of hatred just thrown at me by all these fans. And I'm just like, 'Damn, I was just getting over this, and now it all just came back again, and now I have poor Ronnie who has to be involved in all of this, and my family again has to be involved in this.'"
Later in the podcast, Paige admitted she was grateful for Triple H's apology and she knew he didn't mean to cause any harm with his comments.
She added: "Oh yeah, it definitely takes someone, a real man or a woman, to admit a mistake that they've made. And to publicly go out there and obviously apologise, it takes a lot because sometimes, like, you truly don't mean to offend someone, obviously. And in today's age, people can get offended a lot."
Written by Aidan Gibbons
Editor-in-Chief of Cultaholic.com Twitter: @theaidangibbons
