February 12, 2024 Observer Newsletter: More on Vince McMahon allegations, WrestleMania 40 main event

The past week saw Vince McMahon have John Laurinaitis evidently flip on him and another round of media coverage regarding a federal investigation into his behavior and stories regarding the late Ashley Massaro’s claim to have been raped and told to cover it up by the company brought back to life with new information uncovered.

A story in the Hollywood Reporter said that on 1/26, the day after the Janel Grant lawsuit was filed and after Slim Jim had pulled out as sponsor for the Royal Rumble the next day, TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro called up McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to leave. McMahon did not fight the directive and wrote his letter of resignation, and WWE President Nick Khan publicly released the information.

The story said that as soon as the lawsuit story broke, TKO executives reached out to Netflix, NBCU, ESPN, and the CW. The story said that finalizing the Netflix deal when it happened was fortuitous because had the news of the lawsuit been out, Netflix could have backed out.

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