AEW President Tony Khan discussed the suspensions of Jimmy Havoc and Sammy Guevara with the New York Post, two suspensions that came following the #SpeakingOut movement picked up pace last month.
Khan said that Havoc “really needed the counseling” and it was important for him and everyone around him to get that treatment regardless if he returns to AEW or not. Khan said that it was Havoc who asked for help and they did help him in getting the treatment that was required.
Speaking about Guevara, he said it’s a different case than Havoc’s but it was the right thing to do to suspend him without pay.
“The comments he made were horrible. I can’t defend them. I can’t even comment on them because they’re unspeakably bad,” Khan said, adding that they were shocked to learn that Sammy said such things.
“I had never seen that video and it’s something I would have addressed with him before Sammy started here. I never had an opportunity to address it because I didn’t know it existed and neither did anybody else or if they did nobody told us,” Khan continued.
The AEW President added that they had to address the situation before talking about what they will do with Havoc and Guevara. “I didn’t want to rush into making a decision on either person, so it felt like until I had all the facts suspending was the right thing to do. Then I could make whatever the right decision is. I knew the right decision wasn’t for those guys to just come to TV and not address this stuff.”
