Netflix
Netflix’s new headline-grabbing Vince McMahon docuseries Mr. McMahon was released this week, leading the former WWE chairman to share a statement denouncing the production.
Despite the fact that McMahon himself participated in the docuseries, he not only released a statement calling it “misleading” and “deceptive,” but also reportedly tried to buy the documentary from Netflix, likely to prevent it from ever coming out.
The report about McMahon’s attempted purchase of Mr. McMahon comes from Puck News.
“Vince and the WWE signed off on the doc back in 2019, and filmmaker Chris Smith was nearly finished in 2022, when McMahon was first forced to step back as chairman and C.E.O. of WWE amid investigations into multiple settlements over alleged affairs. The ensuing scandal was added into the series, as was McMahon’s return to the company and the April 2023 purchase of WWE by Endeavor, which merged it with UFC into TKO, netting McMahon billions.”
“But McMahon was still nervous about the doc, and after seeing early footage, he actually tried to buy the project back from Netflix, per two sources familiar.”
The report adds that McMahon also called in a favor from Hollywood power player Ari Emanuel, the C.E.O of Endeavor — which owns the UFC and now the company that resulted in its merger with the WWE, TKO — who, similar to McMahon, “voiced concern about the doc’s treatment of Vince’s alter ego, ‘Mr. McMahon.'”
The 79-year-old McMahon is currently the subject of a federal investigation into allegations of “rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment or discrimination” against current and/or former WWE employees.
Mr. McMahon, which is now streaming on Netflix, features interviews with McMahon and Attitude Era WWE stars such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and many more.