Robert Zimmerman, spokesman for World Wrestling Entertainment, said he felt “compelled to provide clear and accurate information about the company’s Talent Wellness Program and its position on steroids.”
Zimmerman’s statement came Thursday, a full five days after Hearst Connecticut newspaper’s investigative reporter Brian Lockhart raised questions about WWE and its former CEO, Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon, in a lengthy Sunday piece.
“The WWE agrees with Congressman Henry Waxman and the ONDCP that ‘the abuse of steroids presents a pernicious public health threat’; however the WWE vehemently disagrees with Waxman’s assertion in January 2009 that the WWE’s ‘anti-steroid program lacks independence and transparency,”’ Zimmerman said.
“Since the WWE’s Talent Wellness Program began in February 2006, the company, through independent medical third parties, tests for and strictly prohibits the use of steroids and other illegal substances. The program also monitors for cardiovascular and head trauma issues, as well as conducts annual physicals and provides healthcare referrals. WWE’s Talent Wellness Program is overseen and independently administered by well-respected doctors in their field of expertise who work with other well-known organizations such as the NFL and NHL.”
UPDATE: Lockhart responds to Zimmerman’s statement and notes that WWE had ample opportunity to address questions surrounding a congressional review of the company’s steroid policies — and why an investigation was never conducted, despite a request from California Democrat Henry Waxman.
After all, Lockhart notes, “McMahon has been on the campaign trail since last September knowing full well that her critics would dredge up the issue of steroids and, in all likelihood, the Waxman letter. This is not an issue that suddenly popped up out of nowhere and completely caught WWE or the McMahon campaign off guard. If such a point-by-point rebuttal of Waxman’s concerns exists, none was provided for my story.”
Zimmerman says the company “welcomes any and all objective, qualified and independent scrutiny of its Talent Wellness program” and takes a swipe what it calls Hearst’s “questionable journalism.”
While it took WWE a few days to formulate a response to Lockhart’s story, one of McMahon’s Republican opponents was a little quicker to react.
For the past two days, Rob Simmons has been circulating a letter he sent to McMahon regarding the WWE’s steroid policy. Read it here:
Letter to McMahon from Simmons_030410.pdf
Earlier today, I sent an email to McMahon spokesman Ed Patru seekin comment. I will post the campaign’s response as soon as it arrives.