WWE’s McMahon resigns following trafficking allegation

WWE parent TKO’s executive chairman Vince McMahon has resigned in the wake of sex-trafficking allegations made by a former employee.

Vince McMahon (Source: WWE)

Janel Grant has filed a suit alleging McMahon and former talent relations SVP John Laurinaitis sexually assaulted and trafficked her.

McMahon, who is also leaving the TKO board, has strongly denied the allegations, describing them as “lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred and a vindictive distortion of the truth”.

He said he had nevertheless taken the decision to resign “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”.

McMahon’s departure follows moves by TKO Group to combine WWE and UFC following the merger of the pair, completed last September.

UFC’s parent company Endeavor acquired WWE in a deal that saw Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel take over as chief executive with McMahon serving as chairman.

McMahon had previously left his role as WWE chairman and CEO amid a probe into sexual misconduct allegations before returning as executive chairman in January last year.

McMahon’s sudden departure also follows hard on the heels of a major deal between Netflix and WWE that will see the streamer gaining exclusive rights to WWE’s Raw show in North America, the UK and Latin America, among other territories, with additional countries and regions to be added later.