Austin Aries is promising to reveal all regarding recent allegations of sexual misconduct.
One woman accused Aries of inappropriately touching her while in bed, another claimed Aries wanted her to dance for her to see if she had rhythm to determine if she was good in bed, and another claimed Aries checked to see her bra color at a bar and asked if her underwear matched.
Aries posted a statement addressing those claims on June 23, saying he is not a user or abuser. You can find his full statement by clicking here.
This isn't the first time Aries has been accused of sexual misconduct. In 2013, he was accused on sexual harassment when he cornered Christy Hemme on an episode of IMPACT, climbed to the second rope, and his crotch ended up in Hemme's face. The moment was not scripted as Aries decided to "be a heel" after Hemme messed up his ring introduction by announcing him and Bobby Roode as Bad Influence (Kazarian & Christopher Daniels).
Aries detailed the incident, his discussions with Hemme and IMPACT, and more in an interview with Chris Van Vliet in 2019. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
In a recent social media post, Aries revealed the email he sent to his lawyer at the time, which included a quote allegedly from Christy Hemme.
The quote says, "Actually to clear up a few things about that, I am not a victim and NEVER felt sexually harassed. Big difference between sexual harassment and his actions. Live TV is Live TV and we need to make quick decisions in the moment. I am a strong woman that makes it very clear what is and is not ok with me. As my own personal boundary if that was a story line that was presented I would have said no. Not acceptable. I made that clear. When he and I spoke, he was apologetic and very gracious about the whole thing. I have a great deal of respect for him, in and out of this business. Even more so after al of this."
Finished recording EP1 of my podcast w/ @JustinLeeper_yo. It’s personal, emotional and transparent. In honor of what’s to come, here’s a 2013 email to my lawyer with a quote from Christy Hemme that was supposed to be posted by TNA clearing me of sexual harassment. #SpeakingOut pic.twitter.com/ZiM2q0FAuf
— Austin Healy Aries (@AustinAries) June 24, 2020
Hemme has not publicly commented on the email.
Aries says he will give his side of the allegations on his new podcast, which is scheduled to be released next week.
