Professional wrestler Brody King, who has inspired supporters to chant “Fuck ICE” at events, has reportedly been sidelined by the All Elite Wrestling promotion at the behest of Warner Bros. Discovery, the promotion’s TV partner.
Clips of wrestling fans chanting “Fuck ICE” during last week’s edition of “AEW Dynamite,” the promotion’s signature broadcast, went viral. And King did not appear on Wednesday night’s broadcast.
Longtime wrestling reporter and pundit Dave Meltzer reported the development on Thursday’s edition of the Wrestling Observer podcast. Meltzer claimed the demand came down from “above” Tony Khan, president and CEO of All Elite Wrestling.
“Nobody wants to get on Trump's bad side. If it wasn't for that, nobody would care, it's just a chant, but unfortunately, they've [Warner Bros.] got a company they're trying to sell and get regulatory approval from a guy who is going to take that stuff personal,” he added.
Warner Bros. denied the story in a statement, saying, “Warner Bros. Discovery did not have any involvement in Brody King’s upcoming AEW schedule. Any speculation to the contrary is categorically false.” The company said King would appear at an AEW event on Saturday.
An alleged attendee at the Wednesday taping of “Dynamite” claimed in a post on his X account that he was turned away from the Toyota Arena, in Ontario, California, where the episode was filmed because of his “Abolish ICE” T-shirt.
King is currently selling an “Abolish ICE” T-shirt on his official website, with the note that all proceeds from sales will benefit the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.
This isn’t the first time AEW has been in the news over Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last year, wrestler Adam Page complained when ICE recruitment ads were added to “Dynamite” broadcasts.
The controversy is occurring as public sentiment turns against the Trump administration and his use of ICE to enforce a harsh deportation agenda. Multiple celebrities at the Grammys wore pins bashing ICE and spoke out about abuses on stage.
Agents of ICE and other federal law enforcement have harassed families and veterans, abducted children, and killed civilians in pursuit of Trump’s policy goals. Conservatives have recently turned to the use of pro-ICE propaganda campaigns to counter the negative publicity.
Warner Bros. has a financial incentive to please the Trump administration, too. The company is the target of a takeover bid by Netflix, which will need federal approval to proceed. At the same time, CBS parent company Paramount—which is led by the pro-Trump Ellison family—is also mounting a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount’s CBS News has recently bent its content to please Trump. And ABC News, owned by Disney, settled a lawsuit with Trump for $15 million after he won the 2024 presidential election.
If those organizations are willing to bend like that to satisfy Trump’s ego, massaging a wrestling lineup for the same reason is certainly within the realm of possibility.
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