Tessa Blanchard Issues Statement On Racism Accusations

Tessa Blanchard had a big weekend as she won the Impact Wrestling World Championship at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view, and she was also at the center of some controversy on social media.

The day before the pay-per-view Blanchard posted a tweet that said, “Hey women, try supporting one another. Cool things happen.”

The tweet received some negative backlash from people in the industry, and Allysin Kay, formerly known as Sienna in Impact Wrestling responded with the following:

“Remember when you spat in a black woman’s face and called her the N word in Japan? Was that you `supporting women?’ The audacity of this tweet.”

La Black Rose of Puerto Rico and Renee Michelle later came forward to claim the story is true, and now Tessa Blanchard has released a statement which reads as follows:

“Over the last week, I have been accused of calling a fellow wrestler a racial slur. To read this allegation has been personally upsetting. To be clear, I absolutely did not use that word. That word is not in my vocabulary. That word is not in my heart. Racism is not in my heart. Yet I know many people have to deal with racism in a way I will never have to. Racism is an awful part of American history, and it is equally awful that it’s still part of our society today. While I did not do what was claimed, I stand ready to use my platform to support the fight against racism however I can.”