For the first time since D-Von Dudley made racist allegations against Jim Ross, the Hall of Fame broadcaster tackled the subject on his latest episode of Grilling JR podcast.

Calling the whole thing “absurd” after D-Von’s allegations were replayed for his audience, Ross said “it doesn’t merit a response.”

“I like D-Von. I like him today. I hired he and Bubba. I thought we did a good job of booking them,” JR continued.

“I was shocked to hear that, because I don’t recall ever having a cross word with D-Von Dudley. I always respected him and his work. I loved the Dudley tag team,” he added.

Ross said the comments totally caught him off guard and doubled down saying he never said those words to D-Von.

“And why he would conjure up that, I guess to get attention. I thought, well, maybe he’s not as happy with his post-wrestling life as Bubba is, because Bubba’s made a tremendous success of himself as a broadcaster, and still works. So, I never said that,” Ross said.

He noted that he’s not angry at D-Von but he’s curious as to why he chose to say those things and doesn’t understand why he went there.

“They made money. They were put in situations where they could do the things they do best. You know, those TLC matches were pieces of art. They’ll last forever. The Dudleys were a major part of that. I know Bubba for sure because I’ve heard it was involved in the booking of that stuff,” Ross continued.

“I still have great respect for D-Von and I’m glad that we got to work together,” Ross said. “But I never uttered those words.”