Ava, the daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, has addressed the wave of backlash she received last year over social media activity in the aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In September 2025, Ava, real name Simone Johnson, shared a post from comedian Gianmarco Soresi on her Instagram story that read, “If you want people to have kind words when you pass, you should say kind things when you’re alive.” She later reposted the message on X, adding, “and I’ll stand behind this. be kind, now more than ever.” Though Kirk was not named, the post came hours after he was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, and it drew heavy criticism online, including calls for WWE to release her.
Appearing on Soresi’s podcast, The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi, the former NXT General Manager said the reaction from wrestling fans was nothing new to her, but the response from another group caught her off guard.
“The thing, I was quite used to getting hated on by wrestling fans and I was like, ‘All right, whatever. Fine.’ I’m used to that, blah blah, s—-ing on me because of who my dad is,” Ava said.
She continued, “They’d be calling me every type of slur, but that’s from wrestling fans. However, there were so many angry conservative men that I was like, ‘You don’t even know who I am.'”
At the time, Ava did not back down from the post, and there was no public statement from WWE addressing the situation.
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
