UPDATE: After multiple allegations of rape and sexual trafficking by a former WWE employee, Vince McMahon has resigned from his position at TKO Holdings. Deadline was the first to the news. Here’s his statement:
“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 intend 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, effectively immediately.”
This news comes as corporate sponsors pull out of deals with WWE. One of their biggest sponsors, Slim Jim, pulled out of advertising at the upcoming Royal Rumble 2024 event.
Original Story On Sexual Allegations Against McMahon
WWE founder Vince McMahon is being sued by a former employee, alleging that he abused and sexually exploited her when he was CEO of WWE. Her lawsuit also states that McMahon allegedly exploited her and trafficked her to other men “asa pawn to secure talent deals with prospective wrestlers they were recruiting.”
Janel Grant filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on Thursday, naming McMahon, WWE, and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that they violated the Trafficking Victims Prevention Act, and also includes claims of civil battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in relation to years-long sexual and emotional abuse that Grant said she endured as an employee at WWE.
This comes on the heels of a landmark day for WWE after they signed a pact with Netflix to bring their flagship show Monday Night Raw to the streamer, in addition to all their content heading to Netflix outside of the U.S. starting in 2025. McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO and Chairman in 2022 amid an investigation by the company’s board into alleged hush money payments to women who accused him of sexual misconduct. He returned to the company in 2023 to lead efforts to sell the company. They merged with UFC in a deal engineered by Endeavor.
Details Of The Lawsuit Against McMahon And WWE
According to Grant’s lawsuit, McMahon and Laurinaitis — on WWE property and using WWE funding — both engaged in sexual assault and trafficking of Grant “both for their own pleasure and as a pawn to secure talent deals with prospective wrestlers they were recruiting.” McMahon “repeatedly used sex toys named after other WWE employees, wrestlers and performers to sexually groom Ms. Grant for trafficking to those same people,” per the suit.
According to the suit, McMahon “would shower Ms. Grant with gifts and empty work promotions, while at the same time threatening her livelihood and her reputation if she wouldn’t succumb to his increasingly depraved sexual demands, including disseminating pornography of Ms. Grant to ‘thousands’ of individuals and engaging in sex acts with other WWE employees—some of whom were complete strangers.”
According to the lawsuit, after McMahon’s wife learned of the relationship, Grant “was abruptly pressured to resign from the WWE and forced to sign an NDA days before a major financial deadline for the organization under the guise that Mr. McMahon would ‘protect her’ financially and reputationally, and pay her $3 million. However, Mr. McMahon later refused to make payments to Ms. Grant, falsely claiming that she had leaked information to the press,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit also alleges some extreme depravity on the part of McMahon and Laurinaitis. “he defecated on Ms. Grant during a threesome, and then commanded her to continue pleasuring his ‘friend’ — with feces in her hair and running down her back — while McMahon went to the bathroom to shower off,” the lawsuit says.
In June 2021, according to the suit, McMahon and Laurinaitis “sexually assaulted Ms. Grant inside Laurinaitis’ office” at WWE’s Stamford, Conn., headquarters. “Behind a locked door, the two men cornered her and pulled her in between them, forcibly touched her, before ultimately putting her on top of a table in between them,” the lawsuit states. “She begged them to stop, but they forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying ‘No means yes’ and ‘Take it, b*tch.’”
This is a developing story and we’ll keep you updated when we get more news.
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