Matt Hardy Further Addresses Autograph Hounds Harassing His Brother Jeff

A video recently emerged of Jeff Hardy getting solicited for a stack of autographs by a fan in an airport. After the video went viral, Matt Hardy spoke on Twitter about fans taking advantage of his brother's kindness. 

On the "Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast, Matt expanded on his thoughts.

"Well, to begin with, I had just passed through that exact area probably 20 seconds before the video was taken. If you see me in an airport, I'll most likely have on shades, I'll be moving straight ahead, I'll have on headphones [...] I saw those guys and I saw them going, 'Hey Matt. Matt, Matt, Matt.' I see them holding stacks of photos, obviously, they're guys that are there to get autographs just to flip them and sell them and put them on eBay," he said. 

The AEW star stated that he would never reject legitimate wrestling fans who seek his autograph, but wouldn't sign one for those that want to sell it.

"I will never mind, I will never say no to someone who comes up with like a photo who legitimately is a wrestling fan [...] When I know you're there literally for the only reason to try and flip these photos and make money off of it, it's not cool and it's not appropriate. Jeff is just so nice of a guy, where it's hard for him to say no. He's very much a people pleaser, and I think part of his journey to sobriety over the last year, he has probably learned a lot and he has put his foot down some in terms of being a people pleaser," stated the veteran star.

Matt Hardy continued about his brother Jeff Hardy learning to put his foot down, citing Jeff's recent decision to quit taking indie dates and only do AEW appearances as a step in that direction. Hardy also discussed when is an appropriate time to ask a wrestler for a photo or autograph in public, noting that it's "pretty much common sense." 

He also continued on to air his grievances about people asking for a number of signatures.

"I hate that anyone puts him in that position. I would like to see Jeff say, 'I'll do two,' or, 'That's too much.' I think if a wrestling fan is there, especially someone with a kid, we're always going to sign. That'll never change. We're not gonna say, 'No, this is our personal time.' We're public figures to a degree, we'll always sign or take a picture with someone," he said. "But that guy was prostituting Jeff's kindness, and taking advantage of him. I'm glad it was on video and someone put it out and brought it to the forefront, so that it could be a public discussion because that should help shame those people into thinking twice about doing that again."