Vince McMahon's sex scandal has thrown WWE into turmoil ahead of this weekend's much-hyped Royal Rumble and recent $5 billion deal with Netflix, and the mogul's longtime grip on his wrestling empire has been thrown into turmoil. This has led to speculation that the stranglehold may finally be broken.
McMahon, executive chairman of WWE's parent company TKO Group Holdings, was hit with a bombshell lawsuit Thursday by former staffer Janelle Grant. It includes allegations that he urinated on her during a threesome, trafficked her to other WWE executives, and sexually abused her using a toy after the wrestling star's girlfriend. I named it.
Another explosives charge in the indictment involved one of wrestling's biggest stars, Brock Lesnar. According to the complaint and a report in the Wall Street Journal, the 78-year-old McMahon told Grant he would create sexual content on his cell phone and send it to wrestlers in order to get him out of his contract with his rival UFC. He is said to have instructed him to do so.
Lesnar was expected to make his return to WWE during the 37th Royal Rumble, a pay-per-view event scheduled for Saturday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
According to the pro wrestling news site, these plans may now be canceled Wrestling Co., Ltd.
McMahon's continued presence is also causing headaches for Netflix. NetflixLiving,” “smack down,” NXTincluding premium events such as WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam.
But breaking McMahon's grip won't be easy. The wrestling boss retained immense power after returning to the company last year. He resigned six months ago while WWE's board of directors investigated separate sexual misconduct allegations against him.
WWE set up a “special committee” to investigate McMahon's conduct, which ended in November 2022, but no disciplinary action was taken.
Last year, he completed a $21.4 billion merger with Endeavor, the talent agency run by Ari Emanuel, to form TKO Holdings Group.
According to X's official account, if TKO attempts to fire him, the terms of his contract stipulate that he will be paid an annual salary of $1.2 million, plus $2.1 million in bonuses and $4.3 million in stock grants. wrestlemaniaWWE wrestling event.
“There's a TKO ordinance, and Vince is basically supposed to serve as executive chairman until he dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated,” media personality Andrew Beidara said Friday. X.
“Vince McMahon will ultimately resign and be taken off the board, which is the best situation for everyone,” Beidara added, adding that if Endeavor were to resign on his own terms, McMahon would receive a large sum of money. He suggested that he may not have to pay severance pay.
A legal expert told the Post that TKO could try to fire McMahon for “just cause,” but it's too early for a legal battle with Grant.
“If the company starts to think that he did it, and the company decides it's going to hurt the company, then it's going to take him out,” said Gregory Stone, a founding partner at New York-based corporate and real estate law firm Fisher. “It may be a 'just cause' for dismissal,” he said. stone.
Mr. McMahon's lawyers dismissed Mr. Grant's case.
“This lawsuit is full of lies, far-fetched and salacious fabrications, and persistent distortions of the truth. He intends to defend himself vigorously,” their statement said.
TKO told McMahon, “McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE.''
“While this matter predates the tenure of our TKO management team, we take Mr. Grant's horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally,” the company said in a Friday post. told the paper.
The Post has reached out to Endeavor for comment.
