UPDATED: Joey Ryan Releases Statement Regarding Abuse Allegations

UPDATED: Joey Ryan Releases Statement Regarding Abuse Allegations

UPDATED: 12:26 BST, June 22, 2020

Impact Wrestling star and independent wrestler Joey Ryan has responded to allegations of abuse made against him during the ongoing #SpeakingOut movement on Twitter over the last few days.

Taking to Twitter, Ryan released the following statement regarding the allegations:

I have been watching along with all of you as the #speakout movement has spread across the internent. I am also aware that my name has been mentioned as part of this discussion.

I have been contemplating how to respond to everything that has unfolded in the last three days. This is an important topic and it truly deserves the time it is getting, even if it is uncomfortable.

After speaking with my attorney, I have been advised not to respond to any specific allegations at this time. And the truth of the matter is, I do not want to spend time dissecting which parts of the stories are true, which parts are different from what I remember and which things being said are outright false. It is important for me to use this platform to take responsibility and not attempt to minimize the feelings of anyone that was hurt by me in order to save face.

So instead, I would like to take this opportity to publicly share some parts of my private life with everyone. It is not a part of my life that I am proud of, but taking responbility is important. Today, I must take responsibility for the way I behaved in the past, and I will do that right now.

As I am sure you are all aware, several yars ago, and all in a very short period of time, a lot of things changed in my life. The “dick flip” went viral. I started travelling the world and living a “rock ‘n roll lifestyle”, I came into contact with a lot of people, incuding women. And, the truth is, I did not always treat people with respect. And I will acknowledge that it was possible that I pursued people that I thought were interested in me and invaded their personal space and made them feel uncomfortable in the process.

Nearly two years ago, my ex-wife and I were separated. The separation impacted me greatly and I began to reflect on the person I had been previous to it, and the person that I wanted to be. During that self-relection, I was not proud of what I saw. As a result, I entered counselling in Octoer 2018 and still attend every week to this very day. I have been on prescription medication. I have worked every day for nearly two years to be a person that respects not only people’s boundarries, but respects people. If you felt that you were a person that I did not treat with respect, I apologize. Aside from this post, I have been reaching out to some of the people involved and we have had positive interactons and started the healing process.

I have worked hard to make wrestling a safe and welcoming place for everyone. I will make up for my shortcomings of the past by working harder in the future to continue to do that. With all of the different social movements happening right now, we need to take this opportunity to listen and learn and continue to strive everyday to do better.

https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/1274540701888331778

Since releasing the statement, Joey Ryan has deactivated his Twitter account.

Anthem also released a statement addressing the accusations made against any Impact Wrestling personnel, which you can read by clicking here.

We will continue to update these stories as further information becomes available.

For anyone affected by these stories, click here for information on where you can find support.

4 years ago by Wrestle Talk

Trending

Get the latest wrestling news straight to your inbox

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from WrestleTalk