Warner Bros. Discovery just fired back at reports claiming they pulled Brody King from AEW Dynamite—and they’re not mincing words.
Amid mounting speculation that WBD executives forced Tony Khan’s hand to avoid political backlash, a spokesperson issued a statement that the network had nothing to do with King’s absence from the February 11 episode.
“Warner Bros. Discovery did not have any involvement in Brody King’s upcoming AEW schedule. Any speculation to the contrary is categorically false. Brody is scheduled to appear during the next AEW event, which will air this Saturday on TNT and HBO Max.”
This comes after Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer claimed WBD pulled King following the “F*ck ICE” chants from the February 4 Las Vegas show, where King faced off with MJF. Meltzer tied the decision to concerns that the chant—sparked by King’s now-famous “Abolish ICE” shirt—might upset U.S. President Donald Trump and affect WBD’s pending merger with Netflix.
“The deal is that they didn’t want the fans in the arena to be chanting that. If Brody came out, there was that risk… when he comes back, it will happen again… I don’t know how they’re going to handle it. This is again not a Tony call. This is from above.”
Meltzer further claimed political optics were in play, suggesting that WBD wanted to avoid attracting negative attention from Trump during a sensitive corporate period.
“You know what it is, nobody wants to get on Trump’s bad side. If it wasn’t for that, nobody would care, it’s just a chant, but unfortunately they’ve [WBD] got a company they’re trying to sell and get regulatory approval from a guy who is gonna take that stuff personal.”
Even then, fans remain skeptical—especially after a fan was allegedly denied entry to the February 11 taping in California for wearing the same “Abolish ICE” shirt Brody King promoted. Whether it’s a miscommunication, backstage politics, or real corporate fear of blowback, the Brody King situation just became impossible to ignore—and the fallout may not be over.
Do you believe Warner Bros. Discovery’s denial? Or is there more going on than they’re admitting? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know what you think is really happening.
