Ari Emanuel Details Vince McMahon Resigning From WWE Over Sexual Misconduct and Hush Money Payments Allegations In 2022 & His Return and Second Resignation Over Sexual Abuse Lawsuit In 2024

As noted before, former TKO and WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon initially resigned and retired from WWE in July of 2022 over allegations of sexual misconduct towards several former female employees and at least one talent that included secret “hush money” payments. McMahon returned to WWE as Excetuive Chairman in January of 2023 and sold the company to Endeavor and was merged with UFC to form TKO Group in September of that year. McMahon resigned for a second time from TKO and WWE in January of 2024 following a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant accusing him of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards Grant during her time in the company.

TKO CEO Ari Emmanuel recently released his new book titled Roll The Calls: A Memoir. One of the topics discussed included Emanuel’s thoughts about where he was and how he felt when the Wall Street Journal broke the news about the sexual misconduct and secret hush money payments allegations and McMahon resigning from WWE in 2022.

“I was at Wimbledon when The Wall Street Journal dropped its first bombshell report: Vince making secret payouts to several women to settle harassment suits. I stared at my phone, then did something I never do: slipped it into my pocket. The rest of the match I didn’t look at the thing once. But I felt it in there like some tiny animal, wiggling, buzzing, chirping. People asking if I’d seen the story. Asking what it meant for the company. For me. Truth was — I didn’t know. And now, months later, I still don’t. As I walked out of Wimbledon, Vince called and assured me the charges were false. But he also said he was going to step down, for the good of the company. His daughter, whom I’ve always remembered fondly from our first meeting, would take over. A short time after that, however, Vince changed his mind and took back the company. What a mess. Such a mess, in fact, that I can see only one solution, and now I’m steadily pitching that solution to Vince. Vince, old buddy: Sell us your company. The idea is to merge Vince’s wrestling empire with UFC, creating one giant fighting mega-organism. Vince can stay on as a sort of chairman emeritus. Shapiro and I get him into a room, show him all the things we’ve learned from UFC, the knowledge that we could bring to bear. We talk about running his company, but it’s more about saving the company. Because the whole enterprise is teetering. Vince, who’s having all manner of health problems, seems not to fully understand.”

Emanuel also gave his thoughts about Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon accusing him of sexual abuse and his talk with TKO COO Mark Shapiro to get McMahon to resign from TKO Group in 2024.

“And then…fuck. More revelations. The worst yet. Vince accused of defecating on a woman during a threesome. Incredible how many things in the world of business are undreamed of in business schools. These revelations are on a different level, orders of magnitude more troubling than the previous ones. Moments after they break, Shapiro calls. Ari—you reading this shit? Yes. We gotta get him out. Yeah. I know. All the way out the door, Ari. Right the fuck now. No emeritus position, no involvement in the company whatsoever. I know. You ready? Yeah. Shapiro dials; Vince answers right away. I know what needs to be done, I have clarity, but I’m feeling uncomfortable. So I deploy my go-to phrase— Tell him, Mark. Shapiro sighs. Vince, we’ve crossed several red lines and we’re in new territory here. We both wait, listening to the white noise. Finally Vince says— Okay. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Today. With these two enormously profitable companies now under one banner, which we call TKO, we hope this new structure of Endeavor will, at long last, thrill Wall Street. It doesn’t. The stock price doesn’t budge.”