Vince McMahon has resigned as TKO Executive Chairman and given up his place on the company’s Board of Directors.
WWE President Nick Khan sent an email to staff on Friday night. Per Variety, it stated:
I wanted to inform you that Vince McMahon has 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.
McMahon himself issued the following statement via Deadline:
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.
McMahon’s departure came after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against him, WWE, and former executive John Laurinaitis.
The lawsuit states that McMahon sexually exploited her and trafficked her to other men, including Laurinaitis.
If your goal is simply PR and appeasing Twitter, sure just fire everyone regardless of innocence or guilt. If they actually give a shit, do a legitimate investigation and fire those who are actually guilty.
I imagine most of the people on this board have a job. If your employer did something shitty that you had no clue or about, do you think you should be fired just so the company looks good from a PR perspective and can claim they “cleaned house”?
There are a lot of people in this company that are good people who are working to support their families. There are also clearly some immoral people in this company, and they need to be dealt with. This idea of “screw any type of due process, fire everyone” is very disappointing.
I feel badly for any innocent people in the company who are learning all this information with the rest of us. I would have the worst anxiety having to go back to work and collaborate with any of the old guard who might have been turning a blind eye to this scandal all this time.
I’m trying to temper my expectations because I cynically believe the most we’re gonna see from here is another settlement and maybe Vince’s immediate inner circle being fired. I do believe that with Vince and company gone that the worst is over. That the Triple Hs and Nick Khans of the WWE may have feigned ignorance to Vince’s crimes but are not going to perpetuate that behavior following his removal.
That’s not good enough for me but I don’t expect we’re gonna get any more than this. It’s great Vince is gone for good(?) now but I’m not watching a moment of WWE again without this being investigated proper.
I agree with everything you just wrote, and this is exactly what I expect is going to happen. Vince will be gone for good and the Bruce Pritchards of the world (the old guard) will all “retire”.
At the end of the day this case was settled last year, and according to the victim Vince stopped paying for whatever reason which makes me believe a settlement will likely be reached again. That’s how I see this playing out. But you never know.