Vince McMahon, the head of the holding company TKO Group, which unites the American Wrestling League (WWE) and the mixed martial arts league UFC, announced his resignation on Friday after a complaint was filed against him regarding allegations of sexual assault .
Janel Grant, a former WWE employee whose undisputed boss was McMahon for four decades, filed a complaint Thursday in a northeastern Connecticut court against her ex-company and boss, as well as another manager, John Laurinaitis , for “sexual assault,” “exploitation,” and “psychological violence.”
In a statement, Vince McMahon denied the allegations and announced that he was stepping down from the board of TKO Group, a holding company formed last April from the merger of WWE, of which he is a co-founder, and the UFC, the leading MMA organization .
“I intend to vigorously defend myself against these unfounded allegations and wait to be able to clear my honor,” he added, specifying that his resignation was “with immediate effect.”
The plaintiff accuses Vince McMahon of forcing her to maintain an “intimate relationship,” sharing photos and videos of her of a sexual nature with male colleagues, and subjecting her to “increasingly perverted sexual demands,” including intimate relationships with other men .
McMahon, a long-time friend of former US President Donald Trump, bought the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from his father in 1982 and turned it into a highly successful league, transforming it into World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002.
With its events filling theaters in the United States and abroad, WWE had reached $1 billion in annual revenue in 2022.
However, this year Vince McMahon was forced to leave the company amid allegations of extramarital affairs and sexual harassment, signing non-disclosure agreements worth millions of dollars.
He returned to the helm of the company several months later before leading WWE's merger with the UFC, with the new holding company taking the name TKO Group.
The announcement of his retirement comes as Netflix announced on Tuesday that it had signed a 10-year broadcast deal with WWE, a move described as important for the platform, which, unlike Amazon, has so far lagged in the race for broadcast rights to sporting events.