Out from under the ropes, McMahon steps down from WWE’s parent company “out of respect”.
WWE co-founder Vince McMahon has resigned from TKO where he held the position as executive chairman of the board of directors. This comes shortly after former employee Janel Grant filed a complex lawsuit where she accused the 78-year-old of multiple things including forcing her into a sexual relationship and sharing pornographic clips of her with other WWE staff.
WWE brand and history
After a successful few years commentating for WWE (then WWF), McMahon acquired the network from his father in 1982. He developed Wrestlemania in 1985 and his character of ‘Mr McMahon’ became a household name in the wrestling scene, the event becoming one of the most successful professional wrestling events in the world.
McMahon combined the WWE and WCW in 2001 and went on to expand the WWE brand into a multimedia empire producing weekly TV shows alongside movies, documentaries, and reality shows. Recently in 2023, the firm merged with Endeavour, the company behind the UFC, to create the TKO Group Holdings, the multibillion company where McMahon was executive chairman of the board until his announcement on Friday.
The allegations against McMahon suggest he subjected Ms. Grant to “acts of extreme cruelty and degradation”, leaving her “numb to reality in order to survive the horrific encounters”.
In his resignation statement, McMahon fiercely denies the claims and states: “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.”
Included in court documents were screenshots of explicit messages sent by McMahon to Ms. Grant as well as evidence implying Grant had been presented as “a sexual commodity for their use”.
