TKO responds to Vince McMahon allegations: ‘We’re addressing this matter internally’

TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, issued a statement on Thursday after a lawsuit with horrifying allegations was filed against Vince McMahon.

Former WWE employee Janel Grant filed the lawsuit alleging that she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE. The suit names McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis as defendants.

Grant is the former WWE employee whose 2022 settlement with McMahon led to him being investigated by the WWE board of directors. McMahon retired from WWE amid that hush-money scandal in July 2022 before later forcing himself back into power. Grant alleges that the investigation was a sham, stating that she was never contacted by the company about it despite being willing to participate.

Grant’s settlement with McMahon was supposed to be for $3 million, but her lawsuit claims that he stopped making payments after an initial $1 million installment. Grant is looking to void the agreement and is seeking unspecified financial damages.

A TKO spokesperson issued the following statement to Variety responding to Grant’s allegations:

Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter predates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.

McMahon’s job title is executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings. The company was officially formed last September when Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE was finalized.

Ari Emanuel is the CEO of TKO Group Holdings, while Mark Shapiro is the company’s president and COO. Nick Khan is the president of WWE. Paul “Triple H” Levesque is WWE’s chief content officer.

McMahon was among the TKO representatives present at the New York Stock Exchange this Tuesday when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson rang the opening bell.