What Happened to Velveteen Dream? The Former WWE Star Shared an Apology Video on Instagram

The WWE had a huge challenge ahead of it during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the $5.71 billion dollar company makes a ton of cash off of pay-per-view events, films, TV broadcasts, and merchandise, it's impossible to discount the value of the live events that bring fans into stadiums all across America.

When that source of revenue was effectively slashed by the coronavirus, a ton of wrestlers were released. But is that what happened to Velveteen Dream?

Accusations were levied against the NXT star that immediately saw him removed from live programming and got social media up-in-arms that he even had a career. A 17-year-old girl posted alleged screenshots of Dream, real name Patrick Clark Jr., sending her inappropriate direct messages on Instagram.

Those messages reportedly contained audio of Dream speaking to the young girl and nude photos of himself. The wrestler broke character on Twitter and addressed the rumors, categorically denying them and suggesting that his social media accounts were hacked.

It's worth mentioning that in 2018, when fans of the wrestler noticed strange messages coming from his Twitter, it was proven that his account was actually compromised.

The lengthy post delineated exactly what happened (from his perspective) with the entire DM scandal. In a nutshell, Dream stated that there was a direct correlation between his release and the allegations levied against him.

The "DM scandal," in his words, began when he responded to a young man on Instagram who asked him about career advice for how to get into pro wrestling. Dream allegedly responded by saying that physique and promotion were the most important things to focus on.

Dream said the full messages he sent to the young man were then doctored and taken out of context and edited into other convos to make it look like he was a predator, something Dream says isn't the case. He even referred to the WWE's own findings following the scandal to highlight his innocence in the matter.

Part of Dream's statement reads, "The allegations from April 20, 2020, have effectively derailed any upward momentum I had professionally and has ultimately resulted in my termination with WWE."

He continued, stating that he spoke with a young man named Jaccob who was interested in becoming a pro wrestler. The next day, he "woke up to notifications of tags of created screenshots and videos of a conversation I didn’t have with Jaccob."

Dream said that he "immediately contacted WWE’s talent relations and social media departments as to begin an investigation [and that] even after the investigation, WWE released a statement maintaining my innocence."

He added, "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. I am in no way of the word a predator. This is the first and only time I’ve been accused of solicitation to anyone."

He also pointed out several contradictions with his accusers' stories. They also deleted their social media accounts after the allegations surfaced online.

Dream also pointed out that there's a website where several personal photos of wrestlers are being sold and disseminated that is still operational.

Dream concluded his lengthy statement by saying, "My hope is that over time people can put two and two together and realize that all the allegations surrounding me were baseless and untrue from jump."

At the time of the scandal, Paul Levesque (Triple H), then the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development, stated that Dream was off-air due to a car accident. He did address the allegations and stated that while an investigation was launched into the claims, there was no conclusive evidence that Dream had been guilty of any wrongdoing.

After more than a year following Dream's release, he took to Instagram to share a video featuring an apology to WWE, Levesque, current head of NXT Shawn Michaels, and former WWE co-worker, Tehuti “Ashante Adonis” Miles. The lengthy message also featured an apology to fans of his wrestling character.

"I want to apologize to the WWE fans and the Velveteen Dream fans because when you hear the name Velveteen Dream, it should have only been spoken about in a productive and positive light — not the name Patrick Clark as another statistic of what happens when talent and opportunity meet immaturity," Dream said. "That’s not what you spend your hard earned money on, it’s not what you invest your time and your money in. When you look on the TV, and you come to the shows — you should escape reality, and not have to deal with mine. I want to apologize to the WWE and the fans."

It's unclear whether this apology may lead to fans once again watching the wrestler on-screen, but there are certainly those who are hoping Dream will once again enter the squared circle.