Velveteen Dream addresses WWE release and issues fresh response to sexual misconduct allegations

Velveteen Dream has denied sexual misconduct allegations made against him last year and addressed his WWE departure.

The 25-year-old wrestler – whose real name is Patrick Clark – was fired from the company last week, a year after he was accused of having inappropriate online conversations with and sending inappropriate photographs to underage fans, which he has vehemently denied.

In a lengthy statement on Instagram, Clark – who noted the allegations ‘ultimately resulted’ in his termination – wrote: ‘All in all this entire experience defamed my character and ultimately accomplished what it sought out to do and that was to see me released.

‘My hope is that over time people can put 2 and 2 together and realize that all the allegations surrounding me were baseless and untrue from jump.

‘I felt strongly about not needing to defend myself on social media for a while now, but I understand the audience I work for and those who know me deserve clarity.

‘I am thankful for the opportunities afforded to me and the memories I have as a receipt.

‘GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD ME AND HE ALWAYS WILL. DREAM IS OFFICIALLY OVER BUT Patrick Clark LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY (sic)’.

Clark also went into detail on the allegations, and insisted he didn’t do so publicly before now because it would have worked ‘against an already compromised ability to sell a character I’ve invested in so heavily’.

Clark noted that in April 2020, after opening his DMs to hear from his fans, he received a number of messages ‘inquiring about how to get started in pro wrestling’.

He responded to ‘a few’, including one from a 17-year-old ‘aspiring wrestling’ called Jaccob, where they discussed ‘things he could consider if he was serious’ about pursuing a career.

‘Physique and Promo to start,’ Clark continued. ‘I also inquired about which schools he was closest to in relation to wrestling training, his weight, and his height.’

The teenager – who deleted his account – is then said to have asked Clark to ‘verify’ himself, despite him having a verified Instagram account.

He added: ‘I chalked it up to innocence and sent a voice message in my Velveteen Dream voice, as to keep kayfabe.

‘The full voice message has me asking Jaccob about his height, weight, where he trained, and what school he attended.’

Clark claims he answered more questions before he ‘politely wrapped up the conversation’, before waking up the next day to ‘notifications and tags of created screenshots and videos of a conversation that I didn’t have with Jaccob’.

WWE had since confirmed they investigated the allegations with Paul Levesque noting they ‘found nothing’, while Clark himself has always maintained his innocence.

‘The part that hurt for me was having a personal picture that I’ve used in my personal life, on apps, being used to label me as a predator,’ he continued.

‘I am in no way of the word a predator.’

Clark has also address allegations made from by another teenage fan, with whom he ‘developed a friendship through a mutual trainer’.

He wrote: ‘[He] shared to twitter screenshots of the first time we communicated through text (2016), an autographed picture from when we met, and an extremely contradictory story.

‘Josh alleged that i made him uncomfortable but contradicts himself twice by saying I was never sexual toward him.’

Clark added he tried to be ‘helpful and respectful’ and discouraged him from wrestling after suffering a concussion in 2017.

He has claimed the two accusers contacted each other over social media before the second allegation was made, while he also alleges that the first accuser was ‘a member of an anti-black group chat’.

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