After an internal memo from Nick Khan during WWE Smackdown on January 26th 2024, it has been revealed, and now confirmed, that Vince McMahon will step down from WWE & TKO in all capacities.
A former World Wrestling Entertainment employee claimed in a lawsuit Thursday that the company’s founder, Vince McMahon, forced her to have sex with him and other executives to keep her job. You can read that from the Wall Street Journal here; https://archive.ph/t5H3A
Janel Grant, who was hired in June 2019, claims in a 67-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut that she was forced into a sexual relationship with McMahon that included “depravity.” The lawsuit names WWE, McMahon and John Laurinaitis, an Arizona resident who was a former WWE athlete relations officer and general manager. A representative for Grant said a criminal complaint had not been filed.
The lawsuit describes several incidents involving Vince McMahon, including one in which Grant alleges she was sexually assaulted by McMahon and another man behind closed doors while other employees were sitting at their desks near the company’s Stamford headquarters. Janel Grant left in 2022 after signing a confidentiality agreement that totalled $3 million, the lawsuit said.
Vince McMahon released a statement to Deadline.com;
“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 said this evening of the scorching lawsuit against him filed earlier this week. “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, effective immediately,” the WWE co-founder added.