Chyna’s mother has filed a lawsuit against the makers of a popular television show for covering her daughter’s life.
The WWE Hall Of Famer is going to be the subject in an upcoming episode of “Autopsy: The Last Hours Of…” This show has featured several famous people from all walks of entertainment and sports who passed away mysteriously or in controversial fashion.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Chyna’s mother is seeking to keep the episode about her daughter from airing. The official synopsis for Chyna’s episode is as follows:
On April 20th 2016, professional wrestling legend Chyna died from an overdose in her Los Angeles apartment. Once celebrated as the ninth wonder of the world – Chyna’s life unravelled after she left WWE and she became infamous as a casualty of drug and alcohol abuse. After a mysterious 4-year-long exile in Japan, Chyna returned to the US intent on reinventing herself – only to die alone 9 months later at the age of just 46. In this episode, expert Coroner and Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter unpacks the secrets of Chyna’s autopsy report and together with accounts from friends, pieces together the truth about Chyna’s tragic death.
Chyna’s mother Jan LaQue has already put the stop to the release of a documentary about her daughter that was being filmed at the time of her passing. She reached out to producers of Autopsy in an email saying:
“I want to make it clear to you, very very clear, that NO ONE – NO ONE – really knows what happened during Joanie’s final hours. So you can’t possibly air something on the supposed “Truth” because you don’t know it. I don’t know it!!”
“I expect a contact immediately back from you stating that you will not be airing this program,” […] “If I don’t hear from you by the end of the day on Monday, August 12th 2019, you will give me no other choice but to have my attorney contact you on this matter. So someone had better contact me on this ASAP.”
Chyna’s mother did not hear back from producers so she sent another email threatening to take the “expert Coroner” that they interview on the Autopsy show to court.
Jan also didn’t appreciate how Kerry Newton, the actress who played Chyna for the upcoming Autopsy episode wrote on social media that she “had a blast” while filming the episode. Apparently, this upset Chyna’s mother that anyone would enjoy themselves while filming this project as she responded with vitriol saying:
“She had a BLAST filming it? How morbid and disgusting is that? How can you have a BLAST portraying a human being who died so tragically? How can you even consider taking on the role of playing her without checking with your lawyers on whether or not it was cleared by the estate? How can you not contact her mother prior to taking on the role? This is just unbelievable.”
“If you continue on with this and defame Chyna or tarnish her legacy in any way, you are really opening yourself up to defamation. Not to mention personal and emotional duress on the part of myself and her family because of what you are doing.”
“You need to be VERY clear that as her mother and her sole beneficiary, I am going to vigorously defend my daughter and her estate, protect her legacy from vultures like you who want to drag it through the mud, and do whatever I can to stop you and those like you from making a buck off of her tragedy both now and in the future.”
Reelz, the company responsible for the Autopsy show responded to these claims from Chyna’s mother appropriately.
“Autopsy: The Last Hours of… responsibly explores the circumstances of the passing of well-known and genuinely loved celebrities who the public cares about immensely. The REELZ series generates much feedback from our viewers ranging from fans who tell us it provides closure, medical professionals who praise its scientific accuracy and many who gain helpful perspective of health issues that might not otherwise receive attention like Karen Carpenter who brought anorexia into the public consciousness and, more recently, with Prince whose passing focused attention on the Opioid epidemic.”
The Autopsy show is a very popular one and has covered a ton of subjects. Chyna’s story was tragic and there is no denying that.
The last few hours of Chyna’s life might never be truly revealed. However, the expert Coroner that they have on the show will often make his reasonable conclusions after reviewing all of the evidence.