MJF Responds to Earlier Report on Incident, Cody Says MJF Is ‘Immature and Doesn’t Represent the Brand’

UPDATE: It looks like Maxwell Jacob Friedman doesn’t have much in the way of remorse over what happened. TMZ later asked MJF for comment on the earlier incident, and his response was the statement, “F**k them kids.” He also wrote on Twitter, “Cry about it. #BetterThanYou” He shared some additional comments on the matter via Twitter, which you can see below.

Cody Rhodes later responded to a fan comment on the incident. The fan wrote, “The meet and greets are for everyone, if they weren’t they’d have a disclaimer or an age restriction. MJF should’ve known not to do that s***. F*** around with adults, sure, but stay away from the kids.” Cody wrote in response, “Actually, no. This was a paid meet/greet where you specifically chose the individual. We would never send MJF on a free publicity activation for this very reason, he’s immature and doesn’t represent the brand.”

Actually, no. This was a paid meet/greet where you specifically chose the individual. We would never send MJF on a free publicity activation for this very reason, he’s immature and doesn’t represent the brand.

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) March 4, 2020

Cry about it. #Betterthanyou https://t.co/KLlQaJpFUa

— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) March 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/The_MJF/status/1235312986883067905

Did it twice while you weren’t looking.

— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) March 4, 2020

ORIGINAL: MJF is the kind of wrestler that keeps in character regardless of the situation, so what happens next probably shouldn’t surprise anyone. TMZ reports that MJF gave the middle finger to a seven-year-old boy during a fan autograph event for AEW at C2E2 in Chicago last weekend.

A man named Tom Gilmartin took his son to meet the rising star and later complained to AEW EVP Cody. He said that he wants AEW to keep their talent in line in the future. He added that his son has been mocked as a result of the incident and didn’t understand what was happening.

He wrote on Twitter (the tweets are protected): “@CodyRhodes @MattJackson13 my son & I are big fans of #AEW we order #AEWRevolution & my little guy was all excited to go to #C2E2 the very next day to see some of the wrestlers the first we saw was MJF, you may have seen the pic &/or video going around that is me & my son that @CodyRhodes @MattJackson13 when he flips him off, I tried to laugh it off knowing he’s just in character & @JANELABABY was great helping to calm my son down but it really upset him I know that’s his gimmick but he’s only 7 & doesn’t understand, his eyes would tear up & he didn’t. @CodyRhodes @MattJackson13 too far flipping him off now there’s a video & people making memes to make fun & I don’t like that as a parent I hope you guys can understand & tell him to calm his antics down in front of kids, I’m in the process of trying to take these videos down. @CodyRhodes @MattJackson13 since they were taken without our knowledge & I hope better judgment is made in the future.”

Cody, meanwhile, said that he should have known what he was getting with Maxwell Jacob Friedman. He did, however, offer to give Tom and his family VIP treatment at the next AEW event they attend. The tweet quoted below appears to have been deleted, but the offer is still there.

He wrote: “DISCLAIMER: If you have a meet/greet or inquire media wise for MJF, you’ll get MJF. Talent have freedom of expression so please don’t think anybody is going to act any different than they do on TV.”

Hey Tom. Just give me your name and city and we will have some will-call tickets for the next time we are in your neighborhood, plus I’ll personally come by and say hello during the show.

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) March 4, 2020

Perfect! We have some return dates soon, just remind me when we get close. Sorry about the situation.

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) March 4, 2020

@The_MJF is the best heel in wrestling history. Change my mind pic.twitter.com/js1sjQQ8Lg

— Antonio Milazzo (@amilazzo620) March 1, 2020