Billy Corgan On If Dixie Carter Is Dumb, Being Lied To About WWE, TNA Settlement, Future Litigation
Former TNA President and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan spoke with PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson following his recent settlement with TNA and Anthem Media & Entertainment. While Corgan is happy with the deal and believes Anthem is in the best position to take over TNA, he has not waived his right to pursue legal action against certain individuals involved in the matter. Corgan called being portrayed as a 'predatory lender' by TNA's legal team "laughable". Also, Corgan discussed being lied to about negotiations with WWE, and whether Dixie Carter is dumb.
Although Corgan said he is "very happy" with the settlement and he admitted that he feels Anthem is the best to take over TNA, he is not releasing all claims against "certain people".
"In making this deal with Anthem, and I'm very happy with the deal, and I do sincerely wish them the best. I think they are the best people that have taken over the company, given the circumstances as they've played out and from what I know now. With that said, in the deal that I made to make this finally resolve and as [Johnson] said in the beginning of this and I've seen other headlines, I did not release all claims involved in this matter. And I specifically put in the paperwork that there were certain people I was in business with within the company that I still have the ability to go after directly."
During the interview, Corgan suggested that Carter's willingness to turn on people should show some insight as to her character. As for being described as a 'predatory lender' by TNA's legal team, Corgan claimed to be just the opposite.
"I think right there, that is some incredible insight into the character of Dixie Carter. She was willing to turn on somebody who she called a friend, who she had in her home. She was willing to turn on somebody, who three times, on three separate instances, saved her company and her ass. Do you know what I mean? Somebody who publicly defended her and worked hard. And at one point, I went a year without receiving a salary. So in that moment, that really reveals the depth of depravity that somebody would go so low in order to win the case. So to classify me as a predatory lender was laughable because under what circumstance in my life could anybody point to, including my professional life and my professional career that I'm set up to be a predatory lender? It's the opposite. I'm a guy who has blown money on art projects."
Additionally, Corgan stated that he was lied to about negotiations with WWE over the sale of TNA.
"That goes back to the whole situation where John Gaburick went to meet with Kevin Dunn. [Johnson has] got to understand, and I'm going to be specific here because I think this helps kind of clarify the bigger questions that [Johnson was] asking that I can't really get into too deep, okay? When the guy that you worked with, John Gaburick, do you know what I mean? And Dixie Carter, whose homes you stay in, and whose dinners you eat with, you hang out with, and you know the kids and everything, when you call those people and say, 'I'm hearing the company's going to be sold to WWE' and they tell you, 'there is no truth to the rumor' and less than 48 hours later, they admit, in front of lawyers, that there is truth to the matter, what would you think?" Corgan continued, "what I'm trying to say to [Johnson] is there are little moments along the way that somebody lifts off the other hand from your other eye and you see other things that are going on that are purposely kept from you, which is why I have not waived my right to litigate certain things against certain individuals because those people, in my estimation, wilfully and purposely misled me to get me to do certain things or get me to not do certain things."
According to Corgan, rumors that Carter is dumb are false. Rather, in Corgan's estimation, Carter fools others into underestimating her intelligence.
"There's a little joke that I make about Dixie Carter and it goes something like this. She survived Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Dutch Mantel, Bruce Prichard, and Jeff Jarrett, and now, by extension, Billy Corgan. Okay, so if add up those list of people that she, quote-unquote, and this is my joke, survived, then you say, what makes a person want to do that? And I think the simplest answer is the truest answer. You have somebody so desperate to be in that spot that they will literally do anything, say anything, be anything, and rub anybody out of the way, to maintain that spot. And there is a common belief that you hear, obviously, when you're involved with TNA, professionally, as I was.
"There is a common belief out there that Dixie is dumb and easily worked. I would like to posit to the world a completely different theory and it's the exact opposite. She's the ultimate worker because she worked all those people, including me. She gets you to believe something about her that's not true, and maybe gets you to underestimate her intelligence, her ruthlessness, that she can still somehow come out on top. And the fact that she's willing to be so publicly humiliated, repeatedly, I think shows you how deeply she's invested in the public personality or the public opportunity that she wants to have. Don't ask me the deeper psychology because I am not a psychologist, but I've never seen anything like it and I've been in the entertainment business for 30 years."
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit PWInsider.com with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription. You can check out the full interview below: