WWE Responds To "Barely Above Pornography" Comment From Newspaper Editorial

Last week, writer Joshua Fisher of The Darien Times newspaper wrote about Linda McMahon and her bid for the United States Senate. Fisher called WWE "a product that is barely above pornography." He wrote, "Linda McMahon has been gathering up town committee and Connecticut Republican endorsements all over the state. Including endorsements from Darien's first selectman and RTC chairman. Some are saying the former WWE CEO has the experience to create jobs in Connecticut ? something the U.S. Senate has little influence on. And even if you look past McMahon's history of creating jobs by peddling a product that is barely above pornography, her ideas and platform are weak and her chances of actually winning the general election in November are even weaker."

WWE's "Stand Up for WWE" campaign has responded with the following letter:

Dear Mr. Fisher:

We are writing regarding your column that appeared in the Darien Times on May 17, 2012, where you state that WWE is a product "barely above pornography."

Although this was an opinion piece, your position as editor of the Darien Times would ethically require you to report the facts accurately and not distort the truth. For future editorials and news stories that may pertain to WWE, we wanted you to be aware of the facts so you clearly understand our programming content and the type of entertainment we provide to our more than 300,000 fans in the state of Connecticut and millions around the world.

All WWE television programming features only TV-PG content as rated not by us, but by the network TV distributors and their standards and practices departments. WWE weekly programming has always appeared on basic cable or broadcast television. As any casual television viewer knows, your description of our programming, based on the Federal Communications Commission rules alone, would not be permitted on broadcast television or basic cable.

WWE is family entertainment. In fact, 40 percent of the millions of fans who attend our live events bring their children. It's insulting to these parents to think that they would condone their children watching inappropriate content. WWE may not be your personal choice of entertainment, but that does not give you the right to damage our corporate reputation.

On behalf of WWE, its 690 employees and our fans in Connecticut, we would appreciate it if you would stick to factual statements about our organization and brand. For more information on our company, please go to corporate.wwe.com and feel free to reach out to us for the facts in advance of any articles you write relating to WWE.

Sincerely,
Brian Flinn
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications