Former employee files lawsuit accusing McMahon and another executive of sexual assault, human trafficking and emotional abuse.

Vince McMahon has resigned from wrestling giant TKO Group and the subsidiary he founded, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), after a lawsuit accused him of sexual assault and human trafficking.

McMahon resigned from his position as CEO of WWE’s parent company. Investments of the TKO Groupsaid a statement released late Friday.

Former employee Janel Grant sued the company, McMahon and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis for sexual assault, human trafficking and emotional abuse.

Grant filed the lawsuit on Thursday in a court in the US state of Connecticut, where WWE is based, accusing McMahon of forcing her into a “sexual relationship,” sharing sexually explicit photos and videos of her with male colleagues and “increasingly harassing her.” depraved sexual demands,” which included sexual encounters with Laurinaitis and others.

McMahon’s statement said he was leaving the board “out of respect” for WWE and TKO Group.

“I stand by my previous statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is full of lies and obscenely fabricated incidents that never occurred, and represents a vindictive distortion of the truth,” he said in the statement.

“I plan to vigorously defend myself against these unfounded allegations and look forward to clearing my name.”

On Thursday, Grant’s attorney, Ann Callis, said in a statement that Grant hopes her lawsuit will prevent other women from becoming victims.

“The organization is keenly aware of Mr. McMahon’s history of depraved behavior and it is time for it to take responsibility for the misconduct of its leadership,” she said.

Grant is seeking unspecified damages and asking the court to void a $3 million nondisclosure agreement of which she says she only received $1 million.

Persistent allegations

In 2022, McMahon resigned as CEO of WWE amid an investigation into allegations consistent with those in Grant’s lawsuit.

His daughter Stephanie McMahon was named interim CEO while the investigation continued as allegations of misconduct mounted and millions of dollars in payments to women formerly associated with WWE to keep quiet about affairs and alleged misconduct.

After McMahon bought the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from his father in 1982, he turned the second-tier league into an entertainment giant.

He used scripted matches, celebrity wrestlers and glitz to make the brand more acceptable to television audiences and developed the concept of pay-per-view matches for larger events such as “WrestleMania” to expand their revenue base.

The organization surpassed the billion-dollar mark in annual revenue last year, and on Tuesday Netflix reached a $5 billion, 10-year broadcast deal with WWE.

TKO was formed following WWE’s merger last April with the company that operates it Ultimate Fighting Mastery (UFC) to create the $21.4 billion sports entertainment company.