Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: dark side of the ring, ric flair, The Plane Ride from Hell, vice tv, wwe

Ric Flair Issues Statement Denying "Dark Side of the Ring" Allegations

Less than a week after Evan Husney & Jason Eisener's Dark Side of the Ring aired the Season 3 episode "The Plane Ride From Hell," legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair has responded to allegations in the documentary from flight attendant Heidi Doyle that Flair had exposed himself to her and made her touch his genitals. Taking to Twitter earlier this evening, Flair tweeted three images of a response (which you can check out below). Beginning by saying that his lawyer and his family advised him from commenting, Flair said he felt the need to respond to "clarify a few things." From there, he writes:

About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a '30 for 30' special. They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH."

Rory Kampf, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. When Rory's lips are moving, he's typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God's honest truth:

'I'd never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals,' Karpf admitted. 'Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the '30 for 30'. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there's quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.'

I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it's good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling.

My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened.

During an interview with 30 for 30: Nature Boy director Rory Karpf, Karpf was asked about the allegations but the director denied having heard of Flair forcing himself onto others. "I'd never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals," Karpf revealed. "Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the '30 for 30'. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there's quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody. I did hear about him exposing himself, which to me is still troubling, very troubling behavior, and that is addressed in the '30 for 30'."

"I was in the galley… Ric Flair was naked in a cape only, and then he decided to come back to the galley to get a coke, and then he wouldn't leave the galley. He had me up against the back door, and I couldn't move," Doyle related during the docuseries episode. "I couldn't get away from him… I couldn't… I couldn't move. He was spinning around his penis and he wanted me to touch it. He took my hand and put it on him."

It should be noted (as it was by the producers) that Flair had denied the allegations in the past and that a settlement was reached at the time between Doyle and the professional wrestling company. On a recent edition of Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast before the episode aired, Flair appeared to come across more as the victim when asked about the incident and the then-upcoming docuseries episode on it. "God, I've heard about it too. Just when things are going good for me," Flair responded. But he also appeared to be putting the word out there that "if the heat falls" on him, he's ready to bring some folks down with him. "We'll see how it plays out because I was there and I don't care whose name I gotta drop if the heat falls on me. I know who was where and what and who and what took place. I know the whole story."

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