12:09 AM
04/20/24
04/20/24
April 02, 2019
John Oliver Takes on the WWE: John Oliver covered professional wrestling on his HBO show Sunday, devoting significant time to Vince McMahon's cruel and dubiously legal practice of calling pro wrestlers independent contractors so that the WWE doesn't have to provide health care, paid leave or other responsibilities of employment. Oliver convincingly portrayed himself as a wrestling fan while absolutely shredding McMahon. Oliver said, "Even the NFL, for all its massive faults, now offers players health reimbursement accounts and have established a legacy fund for older players who may be dealing with health issues. And when you have lost the moral high ground to the fucking NFL, you are morally subterranean."
I watched that piece last night. As is often the case, Oliver is spot on--both with the extensive research his team does and the points they make.
The fact that these performers are considered independent contractors, but at the same time are locked into exclusivity agreements, is despicable. The IRS has given the WWE a free pass on this for way too long.
The fact that McMahon continues to accrue and wallow in obscene amounts of money while his discarded performers die young, broke, in pain, and without any insurance or pension (how many make it to 65?!) is America 2019 in a microcosm.