Vince McMahon, co-founder of WWE, resigned following disturbing allegations of s*xual assault and s*x trafficking in a lawsuit brought forward by former WWE employee Janel Grant. Despite denying the claims, McMahon stepped down from his roles as he defends himself against the accusations.
In a federal lawsuit, the former employee accused McMahon of promising her job advancements in exchange for s*x and leveled allegations of s*xual assault, traff!cking, and physical ab*se. McMahon, denying the claims and criticizing them as false, resigned a day after the accusations became public. “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,” McMahon stated on Friday night.
I plan to vigorously defend myself against these unfounded accusations and anticipate clearing my name. However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, TKO business, its board members, shareholders, partners, constituents, and all employees and Superstars contributing to WWE’s global leadership, I’ve chosen to resign from my executive chairmanship and TKO board of directors, effective immediately.
WWE President Nick Khan communicated McMahon’s departure in an email to staff on Friday, stating, “I wanted to inform you that Vince McMahon has tendered his resignation from his positions as TKO Executive Chairman and on the TKO Board of Directors.”
Among the troubling accusations against McMahon are claims that he def*cated on the alleged victim during a threes*me and traff!cked her to other men within WWE. According to the lawsuit, Grant initially met the 78-year-old executive through a manager in her building, where McMahon had a penthouse. She joined WWE’s Connecticut headquarters in June 2019, alleging that McMahon, during a meeting, greeted her in his underw*ar and pressured her into s*xual activities for a job, warning her to keep silent. The lawsuit also asserts McMahon sent s*xually explic!t messages and made demands after creating a position for her in the company’s legal department, with Grant accusing him of sharing explic!t content without her consent in March 2020.
According to the lawsuit, McMahon purportedly locked Grant in his private locker room, where she claims he forced himself on her over a massage table. Other allegations include s*xual abuse with s*x toys named after WWE wrestlers. The lawsuit presents screenshots of Grant’s claimed text conversations with McMahon, including a May 2020 message allegedly from him stating, “I’m the only one who owns u and controls who I want to f**k U.”
Grant further alleges that in March 2022, McMahon attempted to traff!c her to a prominent WWE star, with a text reading, “Part of the deal was f**king U.” The lawsuit does not name the WWE star involved. Grant contends that McMahon compelled her to sign a nondisclosure agreement in 2022 after his wife, Linda McMahon, discovered their relationship. McMahon supposedly agreed to a $3 million payment for her silence but ceased payments after the initial $1 million, as per the suit.
The complaint accuses McMahon of inflicting “extreme cruelty and degradation,” leading Grant to seek nullification of the agreement and unspecified financial damages.
In June 2022, McMahon stepped down as CEO and chairman of WWE following a revelatory Wall Street Journal report claiming he paid $12 million in hush payments to four women. WWE’s internal investigation revealed McMahon made $14.6 million in payments to women alleging s*xual misconduct, and he subsequently repaid the company for the investigation costs. The U.S. Sun sought comments from WWE and McMahon’s attorney regarding the allegations.
McMahon and his accuser both resided in a building managed by Donald Trump’s Trump Organization, formerly known as Trump Parc Stamford. Residents voted to remove the ex-president’s name from the building in 2021. McMahon’s resignation coincided with close friend Trump being ordered to pay $83.3 million in a separate legal battle involving s*xual assault allegations. The news of McMahon’s departure emerged while WWE’s SmackDown was being broadcast live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Prior to his resignation, a spokesperson for McMahon asserted that the lawsuit was “replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth.” In a statement from WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, a spokesperson clarified that McMahon doesn’t control TKO, nor does he oversee WWE’s day-to-day operations. The statement acknowledged the seriousness of Ms. Grant’s allegations, stating, “While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horr!fic allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
Ann Callis, the accuser’s attorney, shared a statement on the Law & Crime podcast, Crime Fix with Angenette Levy. The alleged victim expressed her hope that those at the company, both past and present, overcome the fear of speaking out about harm. Callis emphasized on the podcast that Grant “felt caged and imprisoned by Vince McMahon,” highlighting the importance of revealing the escalation of degrading incidents. Callis stated, “These are allegations that we hope to prove to be true. She wants her life back. She wants ownership of her story. She wants to help other victims. Her hope is to help other victims come forward.”