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Lest anyone think WWE and TKO can put the Vince McMahon sexual abuse allegations behind them just because he’s resigned from the company, a new article in The Wall Street Journal reminds everyone that the feds continue to look into him too.
The latest article notes that federal investigators, who first served McMahon with a search warrant and subpoena in July 2023, have spoken with a number of McMahon’s alleged victims since that time. Mentioned by name are Janel Grant, the former WWE employee whose sex trafficking lawsuit set into motion the chain of events that led to McMahon’s resignation from his role as executive chairman of TKO, as well as Rita Chatterton, a former referee who accused McMahon of rape in 1986.
Another alleged victim prosecutors have spoken to is described as “a former WWE employee who alleged the head of talent relations at the company at the time, John Laurinaitis, demoted her after she broke off an affair with him.” Laurinaitis is named as a willing participant and co-defendant in Grant’s lawsuit, though his attorney told Vice this week that he was coerced by McMahon and is “a victim in this case, not a predator.”
The federal investigation into McMahon reportedly dates all the way back to the summer of 2022, when the first reports emerged that he had paid multiple women under NDA agreements to remain quiet about instances of sexual abuse and harassment. He has so far released just a single statement concerning Grant’s lawsuit, maintaining his innocence and vowing to “vigorously defend” himself from the accusations therein.