D-Von Dudley Provides Further Details On Racism Allegations Against Jim Ross

D-Von Dudley has provided further details on two incidents when Jim Ross was allegedly racist towards him.

Dudley originally claimed on his YouTube channel in October 2025 that a WWE higher-up told D-Von around the turn of the millennium that they didn't like him because of the colour of his skin. It was insinuated at the time that the WWE higher-up was Jim Ross, and D-Von later confirmed it was the former WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations that he was referring to.

Addressing the allegations further on his YouTube channel, D-Von has claimed the first incident occurred at the grand opening of WWF New York when Ross was intoxicated.

"It was at the WWE restaurant, the grand opening of it. We were mingling with some of the guests that were there… WWE really rolled out the red carpet for this event. It was huge. I remember being upstairs and Bubba [Ray Dudley] was like, 'Let's go downstairs and see what's going on down there.' So we went downstairs, and as we're downstairs, we're looking around, and it was like another private room downstairs in the basement of the restaurant. There was so many people upstairs we were just like, 'Alright, let's just chill down here for a second.' Which is what we did," D-Von began.

"Here comes JR. JR comes down and we're like, 'JR, how you doing? Hey JR!' 'Boys, how you guys doing?' 'Good JR.' Me and Bubba are like, 'Good, good, good.' He was like, 'Hey, you know what, boys? You guys are fitting in really good here… you boys are doing really good. I like you boys, I like you boys a lot. D-Von, I'm not too sure. The verdict's still out on him. I'm not too sure how I particularly feel about this,'" Dudley continued.

"And I'm thinking to myself, what does he mean by that? JR says, 'You know, again, the verdict's not out yet but I'm still a little hesitant with D-Von.' And Bubba knew what he was getting at, so Bubba butts in and goes, 'You know something, JR? D-Von's a hard worker, he never gives this company any problems. We go in and do our business and that's it. D-Von's a good guy. He takes care of his family, he does everything he's supposed to do as an individual.' And JR continued to go, 'Well, I get that. That's all good, but there's just something about him. I'm not sure,'" D-Von recalled.

Dudley added: "I'm not saying anything, I'm keeping quiet, and that's when it finally comes out, 'He's black. I don't know. That's my hiccup. I don't know how I could feel about it.' I started balling up my fist, and Bubba saw that, so Bubba grabbed me and he goes, 'You know what, JR? Black, white, purple, brown – it doesn't matter. He's a great individual. He's a good human being.' 'Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm not saying that he's not. But I just don't know because he's black, and I just don't know about that.'

"And at that point I was like, 'Man.' I had to think about it, if I hit him we're going to lose our jobs. If I say something, I could lose my job, because at that time I didn't think that I would be able to fight that. I'm a little fish in a big pond. Remind you, though, when he said it, he was very drunk. He was extremely drunk, slurring his words and all that. But they say when you're drunk, the truth comes out."

Dudley then provided further details about a second incident when Jim Ross was allegedly racist towards him, noting it took place at catering at a WWE event in Indianapolis when D-Von was seated with Paul Heyman, Bubba Ray, Spike Dudley, and Tommy Dreamer.

"The other incident, like I said, was in Indianapolis where myself, Dreamer, Bubba, Heyman and Spike were sitting at a table. We had gotten there a little early, it had to be about 1:30, maybe 2 o'clock, and I think JR had just came into catering, he just got out of the meeting. He comes over, he says hello to everybody but me. Paul Heyman… pretty much called him out. He says, 'What? Why don't you want to say hello to D-Von? What's wrong with D-Von? What, because he's black?' And JR went, 'You're damn right because he's black. You're damn right.' Now, I don't know if he got mad at Paul for calling him out and ignoring me and saying hello, which he didn't have to, that's fine, but I don't know if he got mad at that and that's why he said what he said, because his ego got in the way or what have you. But that's what was said," D-Von added.

Jim Ross denied D-Von Dudley's allegations against him in December, noting on Grilling JR that he never said what D-Von has accused him of.

"That's so absurd it's not even – it doesn't merit a response. I like D-Von, I like him today. I hired he and Bubba. I thought we did a good job of booking them. They made money. They were put in a situation where they could do the things they did best. Those TLC matches were pieces of art. They'll last forever. The Dudleys were a major part of that. I know Bubba - I know Bubba for sure because I heard it - was involved in the booking of that stuff," JR said.

"I don't know. I was shocked to hear that because I don't recall ever having a cross word with D-Von Dudley. I always respected him and his work. I loved the Dudley tag team. So it took me totally off guard. I never said that to D-Von Dudley and why he would conjure up that, I guess to get attention. I thought, 'Well, maybe he's not as happy with his post-wrestling life as Bubba is,' because Bubba’s made a tremendous success of himself as a broadcaster, and still works. I never said that. Some people, I'm sure, are going to still believe it, and that's their prerogative, but I'm not angry at D-Von. I'm just curious and don't understand why he went there. Just don't get it."

Having retired from pro wrestling in October 2025, D-Von Dudley has focused on his YouTube channel. Jim Ross has been signed to All Elite Wrestling as a commentator since 2019.

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