WWE gaining attention in all the wrong places.
News that has made its way through multiple worlds as of late is the story concerning Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi going missing in Saudi Arabia and has yet to be found. On top of that a number of outlets have reported that Khashoggi was killed and his killing was set in motion by Saudi officials. In the midst of that WWE is gearing up to present their 'Crown Jewel' show on November 2nd from the 'King Saud University Stadium' in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Over the past week there have been U.S. Senators and officials publicly speak out against WWE continuing on with their show in Saudi Arabia despite the controversy within the country. When the news concerning Jamal Khashoggi began to make the rounds, WWE sent out a statement which read that they were "monitoring the situation". World Wrestling Entertainment has also received negative attention from not only their fans but the mainstream media have began to pick apart the story as well.
Emmy-award winning talk show host John Oliver recently gave his take on the entire situation during his 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' show and he did not hold back when talking about WWE and Saudi Arabia's relationship.
“But NPS’ PR push isn’t just towards attracting businesses - also towards changing the world’s perception of Saudi Arabia. To that [they] struck a ten-year deal with one of the most popular and most American franchises there is, World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE." Oliver continued, "They held their first of many events there back in April and audiences around the world were treated to wall-to-wall propaganda about the new Saudi Arabia. Including a video showing women happily driving, men dancing and tourist destination beauty shots as well as constant exciting compliments throughout the broadcast.”
In the clip above, there is a portion of it that features a compilation of all the compliments that were given to Saudi Arabia during the 'Greatest Royal Rumble' broadcast. John Oliver went on to discuss how "pro-Saudi Arabia" that the WWE was being during the broadcast and joked about the speech that was delivered by John Cena after his match on the show.
“Wow, it seems that WWE is as advertently pro Saudi Arabia as it is lately homoerotic which is to say, intently.” The clip continued, “As for the WWE, while they say they are monitoring the situation, their gigantic Crown Jewel event is still scheduled for November meaning John Cena could well be back there doing this *You Can’t See Me gesture* which I guess in this context would mean, ‘You don’t see these human rights abusers right here'".
As this situation unravels, Fightful will continue to update you. The latest to come from the WWE-Saudi Arabia saga is that references to Saudi Arabia were removed from WWE's website.
If you are going to use the quotes above, please credit 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
