By Mark Gray
4:00am PST, Jan 29, 2024
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The fallout from the lawsuit involving WWE founder Vince McMahon is only beginning. On Jan. 25, a former WWE employee accused the businessman of sexual assault, trafficking and physical abuse.
Janel Grant claims she was sexually abused by Vince, company executive John Laurinaitis and a wrestler whom the Wall Street Journal identified as former WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar. Janel alleges that Vince promised her a job – and later promotions — in exchange for sex. (The initial job offer came shortly after her parents died.)
Vince, who is married to former Trump administration appointee Linda McMahon, allegedly paid Janel to keep quiet about the relationship and made her sign a non-disclosure agreement, the lawsuit claims.
A rep for the wrestling boss said in a statement, "This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself."
After the news broke that Vince was resigning from his position with WWE and its parent company (more on that next), he released a second statement saying, "I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."
Following the bombshell news, former wrestlers publicly sounded off on their one-time boss. Former sponsors also began distancing themselves from WWE.
Keep reading to see what everyone had to say…
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On Jan. 26, Vince McMahon announced that he was resigning from his role as chairman of WWE's parent company, TKO: "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," he said in a statement.
Said WWE president Nick Khan in an email to staff that was shared with TheWrap, "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."
Before Vince resigned, a WWE spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement, "Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team's tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant's horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally."
Keep reading for more fallout…
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According to WrestleVotes, Slim Jim notified WWE that it was pulling out of a major sponsorship deal in the wake of the bombshell lawsuit against Vince McMahon. The meat snack company was set to sponsor the 2024 Royal Rumble — one of WWE's annual marquee events — on Jan. 27. (In the summer of 2023, Slim Jim and WWE bragged that their partnership was the "largest sponsorship deal in WWE history.")
"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," the company said in a statement. "This decision reflects our commitment to our brand values and responsibility to our community."
Slim Jim added that they planned to "monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what's best for our brand."
WWE also removed Vince McMahon merchandise from its online store.
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Current WWE wrestlers have reportedly been told to keep quiet about the allegations against Vince McMahon.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that "WWE talent was told to lay low and not talk about anything other than the Royal Rumble or storyline-related things."
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"That's classic sexual predator stuff, to find someone down on their luck and start grooming them and bending them to your will. Not only should he be booted off the board, take his keys to the office away, bar him from going to shows, and I think there needs to be a legitimate cleaning house of anyone who covered anything up, who knows about this. This is absolutely disgustingly horrible and he needs to be gone and done. I hope there's criminal charges brought if any of this is even remotely true." —Former WWE wrestler Lance Storm via Escaping Denver
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Asked how much the Vince McMahon allegations will affect her Royal Rumble performance, WWE performer Nia Jax said, "Oh, it doesn't, you know, I'm all business."
The former women's champion added to Haus of Wrestling, "This business is built on hard work and dedication, and that's what every single wrestler in this room is doing right now, and so we just move forward. … We're gonna put on an amazing show."
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"This man… is obsessed with power and control and tormenting other human beings, good human beings. The first time I ever looked in that little boys eyes, I saw pure evil and I knew I wanted nothing to do with him and his piece of s*** company at that time. This piece of s*** has done everything in his power to try to ruin my life and to try to turn good people against me with all the lies and fake accusations and negative articles on me… The truth will ruin this man and the whole truth hasn't even come out yet. There's so much worse that's gonna come out with him." —Former WWE wrestler Ryback
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"The 'Dark Side of the Ring' episode bouta do Super Bowl numbers smh." —O'Shea Jackson Jr.
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"I want to Powerbomb Vince McMahon," Sid Vicious said on X.
"In my book, the letter 'P' stands for Powerbomb. In Brock Lesnar's book, it apparently stands for something else," he added.
