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When WWE first merged with UFC to become TKO Group Holdings, its new parent company, Endeavor, knew the sexual misconduct scandals of Vince McMahon were still a risk. TKO said as much in its initial regulatory filings, which said that having McMahon on its board could “have other adverse financial and operational impacts on our business.”
The truth of that statement came into sharper focus today, when The Wall Street Journal published the latest and most damning accusation (warning: article contains graphic sexual language and details throughout) toward McMahon yet. It details a new lawsuit filed in Connecticut by a woman claiming McMahon failed to pay her the money promised in an NDA, signed after several years of continuous sexual abuse at the hands of McMahon and other WWE employees.
The explosive allegations within the suit, which also names former WWE exec John Laurinaitis as a defendant and implicates Brock Lesnar, are obviously a concern for TKO. Speculation has swirled about whether it would move to dismiss McMahon, who is currently executive chairman of the TKO board.
While the company has yet to make a public statement, it did address the lawsuit via spokesperson when reached for comment by Variety:
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.
The lawsuit comes during a week of otherwise good news for WWE and TKO. In the last few days, WWE and Netflix announced a multi-year deal that will see Raw air on the streaming service in the U.S. and give Netflix the rights to weekly programming and premium live events in several important international markets. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was also announced as a new member of the TKO board, though one of his first official acts may be helping to decide McMahon’s fate.