The day after a lawsuit was filed against Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis accusing the two of sexual assault, McMahon has resigned all of his positions with TKO Group Holdings, Inc. Janel Grant, a former employee of WWE, claims that she was abused and sexually exploited by McMahon while he was chief executive.
The lawsuit goes into detail about McMahon’s abuse including sexual relations Grant and another WWE employee. Grant claimed that McMahon exploited her to other WWE employees and superstars to have sexual relations with them. She also accuses the WWE of turning a blind eye to the conduct of McMahon and Laurinaitis.
McMahon resigned from his roles as TKO Executive Chairman and his position on the TKO Board of Directors.
McMahon issued a statement denying the allegations in the lawsuit:
“I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth. I intent to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name. However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately.”
Vince McMahon
Nick Khan sent an email to WWE employees on Friday informing them of the news.
I will get into the lawsuit in another post but the “Friday news dump” is a big one for many reasons. First, this should be the end of Vince McMahon in the wrestling world. WWE has moved on and is broader than just the professional wrestling business. As part of Endeavor and in partnership with TKO Group Holdings, Inc., the salacious details of the lawsuit are too much to withstand from a public relations standpoint. Yet, one has to wonder why WWE retained McMahon in any role once he was originally ousted a couple years ago when a WSJ article revealed that he had paid off multiple women as “hush money” for sexual misconduct. Grant had signed a nondisclosure agreement to pay her $3 million but McMahon paid $1 million and then stopped making payments. If not for the breach, Grant may have kept this lawsuit quiet.
MPO will have more on this and the lawsuit.
I’ve seen nothing to suggest there are also any criminal investigations related to this woman’s allegations or any abuse claims made previously by other women who received similar hush money payments. I’m a bit surprised by that.
Hi Ed: Grant claims that the NDA was breached. Vince was served a subpoena back in July for phone records which may uncover more evidence for a grand jury to indict.