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EXCLUSIVE: Under fire for allegations of rape, defecation, sex trafficking and more, Vince McMahon is out of WWE and UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings.
“I stand by my previous statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is filled with lies, made-up obscene cases that never happened, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” McMahon said this afternoon of the hot lawsuit against her filed early in this week. . “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless allegations and look forward to clearing my name.”
“However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary business of TKO and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE the global leader it is today, I have decided give up”. of my executive presidency and the board of directors of TKO, effective immediately,” added the WWE co-founder.
McMahon’s abrupt departure was sparked by the detailed and shocking sexual assault lawsuit filed by former WWE staffer Janel Grant on January 25. His resignation came after a long day of discussions and deliberations between top TKO and WWE players as the scope of Grant’s legal action became clear. and the increasingly unsustainable corporate situation for McMahon.
Explicit in its description of Grant as a sexual punching bag who was constantly abused by McMahon and several WWE executives and at least one unnamed “WWE Superstar” during his time with the company from 2019 to 2022, the lawsuit seeks various damages. and a reversal of the NDA. the former employee was forced to sign. A spokesman for McMahon on Thursday called Grant’s lawsuit “full of lies” and said his client would fight her in court.
Today TKO referred Deadline to McMahon’s statement when he was hired for more information on the situation. As for who can take over McMahon’s vacant CEO position at the company or even whether that role will continue, that’s all to be determined, sources say.
WWE boss Nick Khan told staff tonight in an internal email that McMahon had resigned and “will no longer have a role in TKO Group Holdings or WWE.”
Although sudden, McMahon’s fall from his TKO position amid sexual abuse allegations follows his 2022 expulsion from the WWE he co-founded due to “alleged executive misconduct.” That misconduct, which he named WWE’s head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, came as dozens of multimillion-dollar payments to former employees and others became public.
One of those revelations included a $3 million payment to a woman with whom McMahon had an affair. In her complaint, Grant says McMahon agreed to pay her $3 million in 2022 to keep their sexual relationship a secret if she signed a confidentiality agreement. Now looking to emasculate that NDA, Grant signed it at the time, but says she’s only received $1 million from McMahon so far.
Named as a defendant in Grant’s lawsuit, Laurinaitis left WWE in 2022.
Although the WWE board ousted her from the company in early 2022, the controversy courting McMahon returned shortly after, installing a new board and completing the sale of WWE to Endeavor. From that windfall, he formed TKO last year. In his lawsuit, Grant calls WWE’s internal investigation into the allegations against McMahon a “sham.”
Having previously boasted about Mr. McMahon’s role at the Endeavor-owned company TKO, where Ari Emanuel is CEO, he said yesterday after Janel Grant’s assault and abuse lawsuits were filed that “Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the daily operations of WWE.” They then distanced themselves from McMahon, adding: “While this matter predates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
This latest lawsuit against McMahon was filed just over 48 hours after it was announced that TKO had reached a 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix for the streamer to step into the ring starting next year with WWE. Monday night raw, as well as other company programs. The disturbing lawsuit and now McMahon’s resignation also come as WWE number 37 Real battle It’s set for tomorrow. Streamed and on expensive pay-per-views, the Rumble features wrestlers from the Raw and Smackdown units meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida and fighting in the ring. The lucrative event clearly won’t feature Vince McMahon now.