Andrew Yang Explains His Stance Against WWE's "Misclassification" Of Wrestlers
Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate, has reiterated that WWE's "misclassification" of professional wrestlers as independent contractors is ridiculous and should be looked into by government authorities.
While speaking to CNN on Sunday, Yang was asked to clarify his previous tweet in which he opposed WWE's edict to ban talent from engaging with third party platforms such as Cameo and Twitch.
"The post you're talking about was my categorizing the misclassification of professional wrestlers as independent contractors, which is completely ridiculous, given that the WWE has controlled their name and likeness for years, and controls their activities in many ways.
"Anything that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have for me that will help move the country forward, I would love to help in every possible way," said Yang, when asked if he was vying for the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration.
Yang, who admittedly grew up a wrestling fan, previously stated that Vince McMahon should hope that his old friend Donald Trump is re-elected as U.S. President since "change is in the air and changes are long overdue where Vince's corrupt labor practices are concerned."
As reported earlier, WWE has asked talents to cease all third party deals by October 2. WWE's statement noted that talents who violate the new edict could face fines, suspension, or termination.
"We have to try to get people the benefits that were associated with full-time jobs in different ways." –@AndrewYang tells me what he would do if he became Biden/Harris' Labor Secretary. pic.twitter.com/oH715J0biG
? Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) September 6, 2020
If I'm not the Secretary of Labor I'm pretty confident I'll have his or her number to talk about the ridiculous classification of WWE wrestlers as independent contractors while controlling their name and likeness for years, even for something as benign as Cameo.
? Andrew Yang?????? (@AndrewYang) September 5, 2020
Vince you'd better hope your old friend Donald wins because change is in the air and changes are long overdue where your corrupt labor practices are concerned. It would give me great pleasure. The people know.
? Andrew Yang?????? (@AndrewYang) September 5, 2020