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For the second time in as many years, WWE executive Vince McMahon has resigned his post amid a sexual assault scandal.
McMahon resigned his post as both executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings and his spot on the TKO board of directors.
This comes less than two years after McMahon stepped away from his role as the CEO of WWE after he alleged paid four women a total sum of $12 million in order to stop them from proceeding with sexual harassment proceedings.
Major news. Vince McMahon resigned from all roles with TKO.
The following was sent to some staff pic.twitter.com/kTZbpooTu7
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 27, 2024
This time around, the allegations are somehow far, far worse.
Former WWE employee Janel Grant sued McMahon and company, alleging years of sexual assault and abuse.
“Mr. McMahon repeatedly used sex toys named after other WWE employees, wrestlers, and performers to sexually groom Ms. Grant for trafficking to those same people,” the lawsuit claims.
“During this ‘relationship’ Mr. McMahon would shower Ms. Grant with gifts and empty work promotions, while at the same time threatening her livelihood and her reputation if she wouldn’t succumb to his increasingly depraved sexual demands, including disseminating [explicit images] of Ms. Grant to ‘thousands’ of individuals and engaging in sex acts with other WWE employees—some of whom were complete strangers.
“On one such occasion, Mr. McMahon and Mr. Laurinaitis are alleged to have raped Ms. Grant in a WWE conference room, ignoring her protests and saying ‘No means yes’ and ‘take it, b—-.”
WWE lost a major partner on Friday when long-term sponsor Slim Jim announced it waspausing their relationship with the WWE due to the allegations against McMahon.”
“Slim Jim values integrity and respect in all of our partnerships,” the company said in a statement. “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.”