Victim In BJ Whitmer Domestic Assault Case Alleges Issues With AEW Legal Team

The woman who was a victim of domestic assault from BJ Whitmer says she has had issues with AEW’s legal team over the matter. As previously reported, Whitmer was fired from his position as a producer in AEW after he was arrested in June of 2023 on charges of strangulation in the first degree and burglary in the second degree. Whitmer was sentenced in March on the charges after entering an Alford plea, in which a defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a reasonable jury to convict and thus pleads guilty while still maintaining their innocence. Whitmer received five years probation and a 120-day home incarceration on the charges.

Jamie Hawn, the victim in the case, has launched a GoFundMe in which she says she and is a now-homeless mother of three “as a result of careless, egotistical and inhumane actions of AEW (All Elite Wrestling) and Chris Peck,” the latter of whom is a legal counsel of AEW. Hawn says that she has been dealing with a number of struggles throughout the criminal and civil court process of the assault and that she has lost her home and was staying in her car until it broke down.

Hawn proceeds to outline her difficulties in dealing with Peck specifically, referring to him as single-handedly having had a “direct impact” on the criminal case against Whitmer, his sentencing, and Hawn’s “ability to properly recover financially, mentally, and physically.” She describes having dealt initially with Megha Parekh, having reached out to her first on June 10th, 2023 as a last result when local law enforcement hadn’t responded to prior abuse incidents. She says she knew Parekh “had expertise in mental health and crisis management” from conversations with Whitmer. Hawn states that Parekh seemed to understand that she was seeking a policy change and a “committed plan” to address domestic violence in the wrestling industry.

Hawn states that Parekh asked her to send over information she had to support her claims of abuse, and then took action and terminated Whitmer after reviewing the situation. Parekh also offered her domestic violence trauma therapy resources, a home security system after Whitmer was released on bail, a security detail to EPO at a court hearing where Whitmer was present, and “detailed/itemized financial support for specialized therapy and basic living expenses that could not be met due to severe medical condition(s) following [the] attack.” Hawn says she talked about partnering with the company “to strategically create and raise awareness of Domestic Violence, as well as target policy changes to prevent people from going through similar situations and to show how companies can support victims of domestic violence.”

She goes on to say that she received an email in September of last year from Peck, who responded to an email she sent Parekh and said that Parekh would no longer be involved. She says that Peck told her he was unaware of the situation and didn’t have any record of what she had discussed with Parekh, asking her to explain what happened from the beginning, which forced her to relive the trauma — something she notes was unreasonable considering Parekh had forwarded all files including texts, emails, and call notes to Peck. Hawn says that Parekh informed her in October she had transferred the information over when she shifted away from AEW and that Parekh had apologized for the transition not being smooth.

Hawn states that Peck made it seem like she was trying to take advantage of the situation and that as opposed to asking for help and, when they were discussion additional financial support to help handle rent, Peck “changed the tone of engagement entirely and asked what is needed to make ‘this’ go away as a final amount for us to go our separate ways.” Until that point, Hawn said that she had never felt as if it was a her vs. AEW situation and that they were working together to make positive change. She says their next conversation included outside counsel as representation for AEW and that “the Latham attorney” bullied her with accusations that she was trying to threaten AEW for financial gain. She says that Peck sent her an email stating that she needed to sign an agreement for the financial support, which turned out to be an NDA.

She notes that she reviewed the NDA and asked Peck to verify he wasn’t in contact with Whitmer’s defense attorney. Peck said that the defense attorney requested an itemized list of any form of financial assistance AEW gave her, which she provided to the prosecution for transparency, and asked Peck and the prosecution to inform her about information provided to Whitmer’s defense team while also asking the prosecution to review her emails with Parekh for context. She notes no one attempted to verify the information with her and then notes that after the NDA was executed, Peck “engaged with Whitmer’s Defense attorney again stating that my intentions for my engagement with AEW were purely for financial gain.” She says that in doing so, Peck breached the NDA and that he, without being subpoenaed or having any legal obligation, “wrongfully provided” an incorrect description of her intentions with AEW.

Hawn says that Parekh reached out to both the prosecution and defense at her request to clarify their conversations but that neither responded. She said she was never looking for anything more than empathy and help in the situation and that while Parekh tried to help, Peck portrayed her as a “hysterical woman.”

Hawn is seeking $10,000 that will be used for:

“1. Obtaining immediate shelter
2. Covering transportation costs to get my children to and from school, and scheduled doctor appointments
3. Living costs for food and winter items
4. Groundwork for rebuilding a happy, healthy, and loving home as we lost all of our belongings that were in storage”

You can see the full GoFundMe and contribute here.