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World Wrestling Entertainment Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque made his first public comments after Vince McMahon resigned Friday from the board of directors of WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, in the wake of a former employee’s lawsuit accusing McMahon of sex trafficking, sexual assault and physical abuse.
At a news conference after WWE’s “Royal Rumble” event on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Florida, Levesque, McMahon’s son-in-law, said he had not read the lawsuit and had no prior knowledge of it, adding that he did not “ He wants to get caught up in it.”
Levesque said he is doing “everything possible” to ensure employees are not taken advantage of and feel safe at work. He did not provide details on what steps WWE has taken.
TKO did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on Levesque’s statements at the press conference.
He horrible accusations against McMahon were introduced by Janel Grant, who worked at WWE headquarters. Grant alleged that McMahon promised a job (and subsequent promotions) in WWE in exchange for sex.
Grant’s lawsuit also includes allegations that McMahon trafficked her to other men inside and outside the company, including John Laurinaitis, a former wrestler who worked in the company’s talent relations department. Laurinaitis is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
McMahon, 78, denied the allegations and said he is prepared to defend himself in court.
McMahon retired from his position in July 2022 amid a WWE-appointed special committee investigation into his alleged misconduct while serving as president and CEO of the company. Laurinaitis left the company shortly after.
McMahon returned as president of TKO in early 2023. In September, WWE officially merged with a portion of Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor group, the parent company of the UFC, to form TKO. The deal valued the newly combined company at more than $21 billion, with WWE shareholders owning 49% of the combined company.
Men’s Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes said at the press conference that the allegations cast “a dark cloud” over the company and that he was unsure what the next chapter would look like.
Levesque said it was “an incredible week” for WWE after previously citing a 10-year, $5 billion deal announced Tuesday with streaming service Netflix that it will become the exclusive home of the “WWE Raw” show starting in 2025.
Also on Tuesday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced that join the board of directors in technical knockout.
CNN’s Samantha Delouya, Elizabeth Wagmeister and Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.
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