Vince McMahon resigned as TKO Executive Chairman and from the TKO Board of Directors after former employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon, WWE, and former executive John Laurinaitis.
The lawsuit accused McMahon of sex trafficking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault, which gained significant media attention.
Appearing on today’s edition of The Howard Stern Show, John Cena discussed the allegations made against his former boss. He said,
“I don’t think it’s complicated to talk about. It’s complicated to listen to. That’s why I don’t necessarily put a lot of time and equity into it. There’s still a long way to go. I can say this, I’m a big advocate of love and friendship and honesty, and communication, in the same breath, I’m also a big advocate of accountability. If someone’s behavior lies so far outside of your value system that the balance shifts of, ‘I can’t operate in a world where this works.’ That’s the end result of being accountable.”
He continued, “Right now, I’m gonna love the person I love, be their friend. ‘I love you, you have a hill to climb.’ There is the saying of, ‘You don’t know who your friends are until shit hits the fan or your back is against the wall.’ That doesn’t make any of what’s going on any easier to swallow. Just telling someone you love them, it’s a hill to climb, and we’ll see what happens.’ That’s that. It sounds so cliche, but it has to be one day at a time. I’ve openly said, I love the guy, I have a great relationship with the guy, and that’s that. It’s largely my construct of operating with honesty and communication. Those are strong leads to handling any problem or achievement. The whole thing is super unfortunate and it sucks. It deals with an individual I love and an entity I love. I want everyone to have the experience that I have. Not only do I tell a friend that I love them, but I switch to the entity and say, ‘How can I help?'”
