Tony Khan defends his dad.
In 2016, Shahid Khan purchased 100 percent ownership of Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. The hotel was previously owned by Kingdom Holding Company. Based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, KHC is a publicly listed company on the Saudi Stock Exchange, founded and chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud.
Some have compared Shad's purchase from KHC as being similar to that of WWE signing a ten-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority.
Speaking during the AEW Full Gear media scrum, Tony Khan shot down the notion that the situations are comparable.
"I've wanted to say something for a very long time. I'm just going to say it. I've never brought this up, but I see people saying stuff online, and me bringing this up will probably only make it worse, but "I'm just going to say it. My dad bought the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto from a person who is a Saudi person five years ago. That is the beginning and the end of it. It is very much an apples and oranges thing when you compare the ongoing business relationship (other companies have) going on with Saudi Arabia to what my dad did purchasing a property and moving on from the person, not the government. But I see people say like, 'Ah, Shahid Khan did that.' That's bullshit. I've seen people say it for years, and if you're a wrestling fan and you see people say it, I would ask you to say 'That's not the case.' Because my dad is not involved in ongoing businesses. He bought this hotel a number of years ago. Very different thing from what's going on in that part of the world. For years I've wanted to mention this and since we brought up Canada I thought it would be a relevant thing to say," he said.
WWE signed a 10-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority in 2018, agreeing to hold two annual events in Saudi Arabia.
The most recent event occurred on October 21 with WWE Crown Jewel.
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