Mick Foley, one of the most popular stars in WWE history, has announced he is parting ways with the company due to its ties with President Donald Trump.
In an Instagram post shared Tuesday, Foley explained that Trump’s controversial remarks following the death of director Rob Reiner on Sunday were the “final straw.”
“While I have been concerned about WWE‘s close relationship with Donald Trump for several months — especially in light of his administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and pretty much anyone who ‘looks like an immigrant’) — reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me,” Foley wrote.
“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy. Last night, I informed @WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.
“Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June. I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me. But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, ‘I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.’”
The Independent has contacted the WWE for comment.
Trump has had a long, close relationship with WWE, hosting WrestleMania events at his Atlantic City casinos in the late 1980s and early 1990s and later appearing on WWE programming himself. This included a famous on-screen feud with former WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Vince’s wife, Linda McMahon, serves as Trump’s education secretary and previously led the Small Business Administration during his first term.
Foley is known for his diverse wrestling personas of Cactus Jack, Dude Love and Mankind.
The wrestler’s comments after Trump suggested Reiner’s death was “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
His remarks have been widely condemned on both sides of the political aisle, with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene telling CNN they were “completely below the office of the president” as well as “classless and just wrong.”
Reiner’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was charged Tuesday with killing his 78-year-old father and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference with L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell. The couple were found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles on Sunday.
Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.
Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case. Nick is expected to appear publicly for the first time today in court.
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