More on Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon – Possible Reason for McMahon’s Swift Resignation, More Backstage Reaction, More Victims Contacted

As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit last week against TKO Group Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. McMahon officially resigned from TKO Group and WWE last week over the fallout from this lawsuit.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that one possible reason for McMahon’s swift resignation might have been due to TKO and WWE’s concerns over their insurance carrier. One person spoken to familiar with the matter reportedly stated that insurance policies all have clauses stating that the insurance company can settle whatever claims they feel are meritorious without the input from the insured. This same person also reportedly stated that the insurance company could also threaten to drop TKO and WWE or hike their rates if McMahon was not removed in some way shape or form. This person stated “We saw this kind of thing happen in the P. Diddy suit that was brought by his ex partner Cassie. The insurance carrier will attempt to settle this very, very quickly due to the public interest in the story. The insurance company will get WWE/TKO out of the suit, but McMahon and Laurinaitis will likely still be personally exposed by the suit.”

Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that Stephanie McMahon’s departure from WWE’s Board of Directors and company in January of 2023 was not due to the situation involving Grant’s allegations and her finding out about it but instead was directly due to her father Vince returning to WWE’s Board at that time.

In regards to the locker room reaction over McMahon’s allegations, one talent spoken to reportedly stated that their reading of the lawsuit was emotionally scarring. This same talent reportedly also stated how everyone in the company was “striving for Vince’s love and approval, and how devastating reading the suit was to have thought that and worked for someone who in the end didn’t care about their talents.” This same talent reportedly also stated that “Vince made so many of us feel small and awful. We all had to obey his abuse in order to keep our jobs.”

Meltzer reported that the reaction within WWE’s women’s locker room was one of a lot of trauma over their fears that this situation will get crazier if more women come forward with their own allegations against McMahon.

One talent spoken to reportedly stated that nobody has talked to them about the situation from management beyond WWE officials only informing them that McMahon will not be coming back. Those who asked reportedly were told instead about how successful this year’s Royal Rumble event was and how big the new Netflix deal is for the company.

In regards to the recent comments made by WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque about him not reading the lawsuit, one talent spoken to reportedly stated that they felt that as someone in the company of his stature, this was a hard thing to believe and “you would have to be living under a rock if you did not read it.”

Fightful Select’s report provided additional details from their own sources.

It was reported that one longtime employee stated that they do not even believe that the current sex trafficking lawsuit against McMahon is “the worst of it” due to higher settlement deals McMahon had made with other women.

It was also reported that those spoken to have confirmed that other potential victims of McMahon have been identified and contacted by attorneys and media outlets to see if they want to take legal action.

In regards to former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ recent claims of him also being a victim and not a perpetrator, one longtime former friend of Laurinaitis described his actions as “rats jumping off of the sinking ship.” Laurinaitis’ lawyer reportedly has recently reached out to several within the wrestling industry in an attempt to find allies or find out who to talk to help gauge his best options moving forward.

In regards to TKO, it was reported that TKO officials became very aware of the mess on their hands after Endeavor’s merger of WWE and UFC to create their new company. One source spoken to reportedly stated that they believe that TKO would have handled the merger rollout much differently had they been aware something like this was imminent. TKO officials reportedly were very aware of this situation as of last week when McMahon was present at the New York Stock Exchange for WWE’s Netflix deal celebrations.

It was also reported that talent spoken to confirmed that WWE officials currently want to move on past McMahon and put him in the rear-view. It was also reported that several talent spoken to reportedly currently feel that McMahon is delusional enough to try to work his way back to the company in some kind of role despite them being told that McMahon is done and has not path for a return.