WWE’s AJ Lee & Stephanie McMahon Address 2015 ‘Equal Pay’ Social Media Exchange

WWE

AJ Lee and Stephanie McMahon have opened up about a past issue involving equal pay in WWE that erupted a decade ago.

With AJ Lee now back in the WWE family and heading to the women’s WarGames match at the upcoming Survivor Series, the pair have discussed their social media exchange from 2015, which saw AJ call out Stephanie over the lack of equal pay and TV time for the WWE women’s division at the time.

The issue being addressed was considered the “one condition” under which Lee would appear on What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, with the episode beginning with them discussing it directly:

Stephanie: “AJ was very clear that she’d love to do the podcast but on one condition that we actually addressed what we went through.”

AJ: “The first thing I thought was that people are going to think we’re gonna like glaze past it or not address it. It’s an elephant in the room but it’s something I think in a weird way we’re both proud of, like how far we’ve come.

“So, a long time ago, the women’s division was in a different spot, and it felt like an uphill battle a lot of the time, and I was one of the first people fighting for it quite vocally, and I think when you are the first to do something, you get hurt storming the gates, you know? It’s a little rougher, but I think it’s worth it because it opens a path for people to come behind you.

“There was an incident on Twitter in which you posted about equal pay.”

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McMahon would provide context for the post in question, noting Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech from February 2015, explaining:

Stephanie: “Yeah, I think it was Patricia Arquette at one of the award shows had talked about equal pay, and I did a hashtag ‘use your voice’. I don’t know if that was the trending hashtag, but I amplified it.”

AJ: “Yeah, then I retweeted it and said: ‘Well, if we’re talking about use your voice, we don’t get equal pay essentially, yet we’re bringing in more eyeballs than a lot of the men. It was probably pretty feisty.”

Steph: “It was but that’s great.”

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AJ Lee would then open up about why she responded in the way that she did, with McMahon challenging her “nothing to lose” belief, with the pair saying:

AJ: “In general I’m fairly direct. I try not to be rude. I think a lot of people are like: ‘Oh I have no filter’, but it’s just an excuse for being rude. But I think you can be direct but very practical, and so I felt it was coming from a practical place, very direct, but I also was a bit like ‘I don’t have nothing to lose right now’.

Steph: “And well, you were champ at the time, so actually you did have a lot to lose. The courage that, not only that, but the courage it took to fight for what you believed in and the fact that you really were a different character than any type of stereotype, like you came out of nowhere and the audience loved you from the start.

“They really did they just connected with you in such a special and unique way. And I appreciate your directness. I’m a direct person as well. I’m sure some people think I’m rude, but I don’t mean to be. I just hate all the BS. Let’s just have the conversation.”

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The exchange would see much coverage of what was going on behind-the-scenes in WWE at the time, with Stephanie McMahon addressing the “gossip” and her honest thoughts on Lee’s post, revealing:

“I was preparing for this interview and looking that up (the tweets), and I read all the backstage gossip of what happened. It’s just so interesting because people never really know. I was actually happy that you posted that. I wasn’t happy that it was directed at me because there wasn’t anything I had direct control over, but I was really happy that you did because that movement – the whole women’s evolution in WWE – it didn’t happen because of executives.

“Maybe along the way people voicing their opinions, but it really happened because the women who paved the way, all the way back to the beginning. All these incredible women who have been inside the squared circle, no matter what promotion they were in.

“But then our audience, when they started the hashtag ‘give divas a chance’ – that’s what couldn’t be ignored. And the audience would never have gotten behind the movement if it weren’t for people like you, who actually stood up for women publicly and really take on the machine a little bit. It was a big deal, I thought.”

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With this discussion, it appears that any animosity between either party is very much in the past, with Lee noting her attitude towards a “play it safe” life and McMahon concluding the importance of raising the issue at hand, saying:

AJ: “I appreciate that. Change doesn’t happen unless there’s sacrifice. You have to be willing to lose everything to get what you want, and I feel like that in every aspect of life. Playing it safe doesn’t work. Playing it safe might give you a safe life, but I don’t know if it gives you an exceptional life. And so I felt like that was worth it, whatever the backlash was going to be. But I thought you were cool after, everyone was pretty chill. It was business, and I appreciate that, but it was a rough time.”

Steph: “There was a lot of things happening at that time (laughs), so I’m sure everyone can read into it how they wanted. But it was so important. It was a really important public-facing step.”

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AJ Lee returned to WWE earlier this year on the Raw before Wrestlepalooza and went on to play a part in Maxxine Dupri defeating Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.

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• wwe
• Stephanie McMahon
• aj lee

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