Duval School Board Candidate Claims Tony Khan DM’d Him Regarding Criticism Over MJF-Juice Robinson Angle

Back on Tuesday, you may recall an angle from Tuesday’s AEW Dynamite which created some controversy for the company. Juice Robinson cut a promo on MJF, holding a roll of quarters with his name on it, a reference to his using the quarters to knock people out. However, it also evoked a past incident MJF has shared in which anti-Semitic bullies threw quarters at him and said hateful things because he was Jewish. The segment made a lot of people uncomfortable, including Jewish people and they’ve voiced their concerns online. While MJF (himself Jewish) has defended the angle as a means to start “hard conversations” about anti-Semitism and educate people, that doesn’t mean everyone agrees with it, especially due to the timing. It happened on the same week as extensive media coverage of the war and attacks in Israel.

One of these critics was Travis Ackers, a candidate for the Duval County School Board in Florida. He wrote on Wednesday: “We were watching @AEW when this happened live last night. It was tasteless and a horrible decision by @TonyKhan to pursue an angle woven with anti-Semitism. We changed the channel. AEW lost me as a fan with this one, which sucks because I really enjoyed their product.”

Tony Khan, no stranger to controversy this week, has spent a lot of time online taking shots at random fans, WWE and Vince McMahon. He has yet to publicly acknowledge the angle or the criticism of it. However, he did do so privately, as he DM’d Ackers about it.

He wrote: “I got the point that you didn’t like the angle on the 2nd tweet Travis. Message was received hours ago. I don’t think quote tweeting TMZ is doing much good.”

Ackers replied: “How often do you slide into a fan’s DMs to mock a legitimate critique? I love AEW. In my opinion, you have the greatest roster in the entire industry. I’ve been to over a dozen AEW shows, have a couple of friends in the company and have promoted your brand extensively. If I can recommend anything, it would be to not just acknowledge our legitimate concern, but address it head on, non-kayfabe on next week’s Dynamite.”

Khan said in response: “I know exactly who you are in Jacksonville, that’s why I reached out.”

Ackers later told Awful Announcing that the two are still publicly discussing his concerns over the anti-Semitic content in the angle.

He said: “Yes, Tony reached out via DM. However, we are having an on-going conversation now regarding the angle and my concerns about the anti-Semitic content. […] I believe the angle was poorly timed and a misjudged decision.”

Ackers tweeted screenshots of Khan in his DMs, which you can see below.

https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1712264371986927854

This is how Tony Khan responded to my critique of using an anti-Semitic storyline. Instead of addressing a legitimate concern, he says “it’s not doing much good.”

Thousands of fans have expressed disappointment about the poorly-timed angle. This is not how you respond to them. pic.twitter.com/gJW7kL3WMv

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) October 13, 2023

https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1712856595640549489