Fierce Females, an all-women's wrestling promotion based in Glasow, has cut ties with Mikey Whiplash. Whiplash was the founder and co-owner of Fierce Females, running the company alongside Naveda Rose.
On Thursday, a statement was released by a group of anonymous female wrestlers who detailed their experiences with Whiplash during their time working with the promotion.
The statement read:
It's hard for all of us to watch Fierce Females, an all women's promotion, talk about being a safe space for fans and wrestling alike, when many of us have felt decidedly unsafe in the presence of its promoter Mikey Whiplash.
Our experiences all differ in severity but there is a pattern of mental abuse and manipulation that all of us recognise. Sending unsolicited messages to female trainees and workers, making unwanted sexual advances both by message and in person, emotionally manipulating, gaslighting female workers and even becoming physically violent with a number of women. Many of us have been bullied and belittled, feeling like we were walking on eggshells at a show because we couldn't dare make him angry.
Some might ask why we continued to stay silent about this or why we continued to work for the company. Many of us have been afraid to say anything. Afraid that we wouldn't be believed, that our bookings would be taken from us or that we'd be blacklisted from companies. The "Boys protecting the boys" mentality stopped us from feeling that we had a voice.
Even now, with so many other trance women coming forward to talk about their experiences, we are still terrified of the consequences. That is the influence of these experiences. It is uncomfortable, and still there will be those who don't believe us. That is your choice.
I've been approached by a group of women in wrestling who aren't ready to put their names out there yet to make this statement public. Please take the time to read it. pic.twitter.com/BqPViB5HmB
— WRESTLING? (@wresnocontext) June 18, 2020
Following the statement, Fierce Females announced that Whiplash is no longer part of the company.
Veda here.
— Fierce Females (@FFemalesGlasgow) June 18, 2020
I also own Fierce Females and this is obviously pretty deeply disturbing. I don't want to silence anyone. This is the first I'm hearing this stuff, so I'm gonna start trying to see what is going on. This is obviously serious stuff and I don't want an unsafe platform https://t.co/WAksejLiA9
Hey loves, it's been a hard day with hard truths and, in light of this, @mikey__whiplash is no longer a part of Fierce Females. I take the voices and rights of women to have a safe platform incredibly seriously, so going forward I'll be running it on my own.
— Fierce Females (@FFemalesGlasgow) June 18, 2020
Love Veda https://t.co/WAksejLiA9
Fightful will continue to update the situation if more information comes to light.
