Jinder Mahal Faces Media Firestorm Due To Racist Joke

WWE writers get it horribly wrong sometimes; this was certainly clear during this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, where Jinder Mahal made a racist joke. Jinder Mahal and the WWE are now facing a media firestorm.

What Happened at SmackDown Live?

During SmackDown Live, Jinder Mahal did a promo where he mocked Shinsuke Nakamura. He started by comparing photographs and shortly followed by “You always look the same”. He also referred to Shinsuke Nakamura as Mr. Miyagi from the movie “Karate Kid”.

Naturally, the crowd in Oakland did not respond well to this scripted joke, since the crowd busted out in “That’s too far” chants.

Upset WWE Fans

As you can expect, a lot of WWE fans were upset by the comments made by Jinder Mahal during SmackDown Live. The outrage of fans was clear through the “That’s too far” chants, but Twitter also lit up with messages from fans who took offense to the joke.

https://twitter.com/mccusker86/status/910836729892032512

Picked Up By Mainstream Media

Unfortunately for the WWE and Jinder Mahal, the racist joke was picked up by mainstream media. One of the mainstream media channels that picked up on the news was the Washington Post. Marissa Pain wrote:

“WWE has dealt with racism before, but a scripted rant has fans chanting ‘that’s too far!’”

The article by Marissa Payne also included some reactions from angered fans, as well as an interview with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. Meltzer provided some context for the racist joke, but did not exactly jump to the defense of WWE script writers.

Statement from the WWE

Considering the controversy and the bad press the WWE is facing, the WWE has released a statement regarding Jinder Mahal’s promo. This is the statement released by the WWE:

“Just like many other TV shows or movies, WWE creates programming with fictional personalities that cover real world issues and sensitive subjects.

As a producer of such TV shows, WWE Corporate is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide.”

My Opinion

While my other half was offended by the statements and found the entire promo horrible, I personally did not have problems with it and found it somewhat entertaining; this is saying a lot considering I’m talking about Jinder Mahal. Don’t get me wrong, I did not like the “You all look the same” and “Mr. Miyagi” comments, but the overall promo did not seem that bad to me.

What many people forget, is that the WWE should be seen as a television show, as stated in the statement released by the WWE. It is not reality. Sometimes the lines may be blurred, but the statements made by Jinder Mahal “the heel” are in no way a representation of Jinder Mahal himself. He himself is a man of colour, so he undoubtedly understands the problems the world is still facing with racism.

Personally, I think it has been blown out of proportion. Then again, I am a Caucasian woman, so I don’t feel like I have the right to have a valid opinion on the subject. At the end of the day, I never had to deal with racism. Even though I saw it happen to many of my friends and defended them when such things happened, it never happened to me personally. So, the question is, what does the Asian community think of the comments made?

What do you think about Jinder Mahal’s promo? Post your unsalted opinions in the comment section below!