Velveteen Dream is making his stance clear after the news of former WWF star Mike Droeses indictment for attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
On May 7, 2025, Dream took to Instagram to respond to the allegations against Droese, seemingly referencing his own controversy that led to his WWE exit.
In the first slide of his Instagram story, Dream wrote, Let Me Be Very Clear: People Guilty of Child Crimes Dont Get to Walk Around Free. The statement appears to be Dreams way of defending himself amid continued backlash from fans over allegations that he inappropriately messaged minors on social media, a scandal that ultimately cost him his WWE career.
In the second slide, Dream continued, A LOT OF YOU OWE ME AN APOLOGY FOR DRAGGING ME THRU THE MUD. KNOWING 5 YEARS LATER HERE I STAND STILL FREE AND WITHOUT A SINGLE CHARGE. BUT I GET IT. ITS VERY HARD FOR PEOPLE TO ADMIT WHEN THEY WERE WRONG AND MALICIOUS. BUT HEY THATS WRESTLING.
The timing of Dreams post is notable, as Droese was indicted in Tennessee for allegedly attempting to purchase child sexual assault material through his Coinbase account on the Dark Web. The transaction was flagged before completion, but authorities still charged Droese due to the intent behind the attempted purchase. Droese was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 28, 2025.
Dreams Instagram rant comes over a year after he addressed his own allegations during a 2024 interview with Chris Van Vliet. During that interview, he firmly denied engaging in any inappropriate conversations with minors, despite screenshots that allegedly showed conversations with a 16 and 17-year-old.
No, those arent conversations that Ive ever had with anybody, minor or adult, legal, illegal, consensual, or non-consensual. Those words, those texts, those images that have been pushed out there on the internettheyre all false, Dream stated.
Dream clarified that the accounts making the accusations were taken down and are no longer accessible. He admitted to speaking with a person named Jacob Schmidt on Instagram but insisted that he never said or typed anything that could be misconstrued as an advance of any type.
On April 24, 2020, I put in my DMs as The Velveteen Dreamwhen I was working for the WWE, my Twitter and my Instagram, the only 2 accounts I had, were strictly for The Velveteen Dream. I did speak to a Jacob Schmidt on Instagram. We actually had a phone conversation over Instagram. At no point in time did I ever type anything or say anything that should have or could have been misconstrued as an advance of any type, he explained.
In the same interview, Dream responded to questions about befriending a 16-year-old, likening it to a mentorship role and not a friendship. Theres been a lot of people that have said a lot of things. The one thing to be very clear about [is] its not a friendship. Its a mentorship. I can only akin it to the big brother, little brother program, Dream said.
Dreams recent Instagram posts and his 2024 interview highlight his ongoing battle to clear his name, but it remains to be seen if the wrestling community is ready to forgive and forget.
Do you think Velveteen Dream is justified in speaking out about the allegations against him? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
