Andrew Yang Thinks WWE Classifies Their Wrestlers As Independent Contractors Because Of "Plain F*****g Greed"
The former presidential candidate speaks out...
Sep 10, 2020
Over the weekend, it emerged that WWE is cracking down on their Superstars using third-party platforms like Cameo and Pro Wrestling Tees. The news quickly drew the ire of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who said he would work to end the classification of WWE Superstars as independent contractors if Joe Biden wins the 2020 United States presidential election.
Yang recently sat down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet to discuss his tweets. During their conversation, the entrepreneur said he thinks WWE classifies their Superstars as independent contractors because of "plain f*****g greed."
Yang said: "The company is worth $3.3 billion. And so, if your company is worth $3.3 billion and you're mistreating workers, that's just shameful. Really, it's shameful. There was a point in the distant past where you could have made a legitimate argument based upon cost but now you can't. Now it's just plain f*****g greed. We can all see it. Fans know. So, it's one reason why a lot of people want there to be fair treatment of wrestlers and genuine competition in the market."
He also reiterated that he is willing to work with a possible Biden administration to make sure WWE Superstars are classified as employees.
"I can promise you that if I am a part of the Biden administration and I can do something about this I will," Yang promised. "You have a National Labor Relations Board that has purview over this, and right now it's Trump appointees and they're not gonna do a thing… To me, it's crystal clear that they can't have it both ways and right now performers are employees in everything but name.
"I'll do one of a number of things if Joe and Kamala will have me. But one of the things I said in my tweet was like, 'Look, even if I'm not the Labor Secretary, can I call the Labor Secretary? Will I know that person?' Sure. 'Can I call the people who are the new appointees to the National Labor Relations Board?' Yes. Will I forget about this? Hell no.
"And that's part of it is that Vince and the gang, they get by because they're like, 'Well the mainstream press won't pay any attention to it because it's wrestling. And the wrestlers can't say a damn thing because they know we'll come down on them like a ton of bricks. So, let's just keep exploiting people and making our millions and we'll get away with it for decades and decades.'
"And the bill's coming due. I'm going to be the person that does it or the person that is there when it's done. And it's going to give me great pleasure because, like I said, that people know I grew up a fan, I'm sick and tired of seeing my childhood heroes die early and then not knowing if their families have any reasonable means of support thereafter. I'm sick of having this feeling in my stomach where when you see these performers put themselves on the line, that some of them aren't getting what they deserve.
"And as a fan, we deserve better. We deserve to be able to support these performers with a clean conscience knowing that they're doing great, their families are doing great and they don't necessarily feel like they need to perform hurt if their body requires some kind of break or recovery."