John Oliver Blasts WWE For Relationship With Saudi Arabia

On this past Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver ripped into WWE for not pulling from its business endeavors with Saudi Arabia after the recent disappearance and reported assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Oliver attacked WWE for not following many other global companies’ leads in pausing contact with Saudi Arabia. He also criticized a recent John Cena promo that heavily praised the Middle East nation.

What was perhaps the line of the night came when Oliver targeted how pro-Saudi Arabia he believes WWE is:

“Wow. It seems the WWE is as overtly pro-Saudi Arabia as it is blatantly homoerotic, which is to say, intensely.”

WWE has had a very close relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has benefited them a reported $45 million thus far. This relationship has also garnered a lot of backlash. The company has released an official statement regarding the controversy, and the unrest among its talent, saying they “continue to monitor the situation.”

As per a recent Wrestling Observer Radio, although many within the company do not want to perform at the event, Vince McMahon still really wants to go ahead with plans. This event holds a lot of weight with the company financially, as, as mentioned earlier, WWE is set to make $450 million from the 10-year deal.

Oliver went on to accuse WWE of essentially acting as propaganda for Saudi Arabia – a statement which was partnered with WWE‘s video package for April’s Greatest Royal Rumble event.

WWE Crown Jewel is still scheduled to take place on November 2, though WWE has removed any and all mention of the show’s location from its promotion of the event.

• Jamal Khashoggi
• Crown Jewel
• saudi arabia
• wwe

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