Everybody doesn’t love The Acclaimed right now.
Max Caster delivered a promo on the August 3rd episode of AEW Dark, mentioning Olympic star Simone Biles’ mental health issues and the 2006 Duke lacrosse rape incident, among other questionable references. The promo was immediately called out by viewers on social media, chastising Caster’s lyrics and AEW for allowing it to air in the first place. It was noted by many that the segment was taped six days ago, and it could have been edited out of the broadcast due to its sensitive nature.
The Acclaimed, Matt Hardy & The Blade defeated Matt & Mike Sydal & Varsity Blonds on the broadcast. All Elite Wrestling has since re-uploaded the episode, now without the Caster promo in the show. AEW did not comment on the promo itself or the edited version of the show.
Read More: AEW Dark Results (8/3/21): Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley And More Compete
Earlier this year, The Acclaimed’s Caster and Anthony Bowens spoke with WrestleZone and talked about the creative process behind their rap battles fans have grown accustomed to hearing on AEW TV. Caster said his main concern was trying not to curse and just tries to be clever enough to appeal to everyone that might hear him.
“Overall I try not to curse. I know I cursed on Dynamite the other week, they told me not to do that. And you know, there really is no line,” Caster explained, “it’s just being creative enough to say things without getting in trouble. I think that’s where I’ve trained myself over the last, I don’t know, probably my whole life, being able to say things. I used to be on the radio, I would say things in a way that wouldn’t get me in trouble.”
“Most of my raps have no curses. Sometimes you can’t replace it, but a lot of times, I have to think, ‘OK, a kid’s gonna listen to this, so how do I say this without the kid knowing but maybe the parents know?’ It’s like an episode of Spongebob,” Caster noted, “ you have jokes in there that adults get on a different level than kids. So I approach it that way. I try and keep it clean but clever enough to really let people know that I know what I’m doing.”
Check out The Acclaimed’s full interview at this link.