Both Kevin Kelly and AEW have commented on the recent filing that has seen the announcer take legal action against his former employer.
On September 4th, news broke that Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins, previously known as The Boys in Ring of Honor, have filed a lawsuit seeking to void the arbitration clause of their contracts and also request that the court certify a class-action lawsuit over claims that All Elite Wrestling is misclassifying its talent as independent contractors and not employees.
On social media, Kelly publicly commented on the news while also issuing a brief response to Jim Ross’s opinion on the matter:
Lots of comments on our lawsuit and we will see what happens. I had hoped to settle this fairly and quietly with AEW but they left us no choice. And to my friend JR, this is not “frivolous” in the least. We look forward to what comes next. Thank you all very much.
In a very brief response, AEW issued the following statement to Stephen Muelhausen of Sports Illustrated:
“AEW does not comment on pending litigation,”
At the time of writing, neither Tony Khan nor The Tate Twins have commented.
Jim Ross Comments On Kevin Kelly Lawsuit
Announcer Jim Ross recorded the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast shortly after the lawsuit became public knowledge. Making his stance clear on the matter, Ross didn’t see Kelly or The Tate Twins winning the case:
“When you sign your contract, you agree to the terms. That would include being an independent contractor. I’ll say this. The plaintiffs, Kevin Kelly and those guys, they’ll run out of money before Tony Khan does. I don’t hold out much hope they’re going to get any kind of settlement, whatsoever. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m not a judge or lawyer or anything along those lines.”
Ross also said the following regarding the lawsuit being “frivolous”, which is what Kelly’s response was in reference to:
“I don’t like those kind of lawsuits. I think they’re frivolous. You would think guys would get together and work out something before going to spend their money on a lawyer, who is probably doing it, ‘If you win, you get this. If you don’t win, no harm, no foul.’ There is harm and there is foul. You knew what you were doing when you signed your deal.”