Vince McMahon Officially Resigns From TKO Group And WWE
A statement has been issued by Vince McMahon with his resignation from TKO Group and WWE.
Vince McMahon is no longer the Executive Chairman of TKO Group, which is the parent company of World Wrestling Entertainment.
In a statement that McMahon made to Deadline on Friday night while WWE Smackdown was on the air, the former WWE CEO & Chairman announced his resignation.
“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.”
“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.”
WWE President Nick Khan also sent this statement to WWE staff.
“I wanted to inform you that Vince McMahon tendered his resignation from his positions as TKO Executive Chairman and on the TKO Board of Directors. He will no longer have a role with TKO Group Holdings or WWE.”
On Thursday, Vince McMahon was in the news again after a scandalous lawsuit had come out by former WWE employee Janel Grant. According to Grant’s lawsuit, McMahon sexually assaulted her and used her for sex trafficking with his friends and others who worked for WWE including former Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis.
After working under McMahon for a couple of years, Grant signed an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that would pay her millions of dollars to keep quiet. However, McMahon stopped paying Grant the money she was owed as part of the deal, so Grant and her lawyers made their relationship public with the lawsuit that they filed.
Vince McMahon responded to Grant’s claims by saying that he would “vigorously defend himself” in a statement released to the press.
Slim Jim Removed WWE Sponsorship Due To Vince McMahon
A major sponsor for WWE, Slim Jim, threatened to remove their sponsorship of the WWE Royal Rumble. They issued this statement earlier on Friday.
“Slim Jim values integrity and respect in all of our partnerships. Given the recent disturbing allegations against Vince McMahon, at this time we’ve decided to pause our promotional activities with WWE. This decision reflects our commitment to our brand values and responsibility to our community.
We will continue to monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what’s best for our brand.”
It was also tweeted by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer that Vince McMahon likely won’t be able to come back from this.
“Vince really isn’t coming back this time. He doesn’t have the voting power. That lawsuit made it impossible. Sponsor pullouts can be a domino and they needed to stop the dominos from falling immediately.”
Meltzer added that McMahon owns about 11% of TKO stock at this point.