Vince McMahon, the former Chairman of WWE, has been under federal investigation even after stepping down from his executive position at TKO.
The investigation centers around allegations of millions of dollars paid to women following accusations of sexual misconduct. Janel Grant, a former employee at WWE headquarters, filed a lawsuit against McMahon in January 2024, alleging coercion into a sexual relationship and accusations of sexual trafficking and assault involving McMahon and John Laurinaitis.
In July 2023, McMahon was served a federal search warrant and subpoena related to hush money allegations. The federal agents were reportedly seeking “documents related to any allegation of rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transactions, harassment, or discrimination” involving former or current WWE employees.
Earlier this year, Laurinaitis responded through his attorney, claiming to be McMahon’s victim. Laurinaitis levied allegations against McMahon, stating that the billionaire exerted power and authority over him and made authoritarian and unwelcome sexual requests with consequences for non-compliance.
At the Department of Justice’s request, Grant agreed to postpone her case against McMahon for six months to allow for a federal investigation into the allegations.
Fightful Select is reporting that WWE has no significant concern regarding the situation. However, there is an expectation that the federal authorities will further scrutinize Laurinaitis and McMahon.
The report states, “People in WWE are not nearly as concerned about the company personally. They expect things to be found about Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. That’s just the long and short of it. From a talent standpoint, everybody feels rid of those two guys. There was a false sense of security a few years ago but now it has been reiterated internally that there is no longer an association there.”
Despite many facts being publicly available, the ongoing investigation may take time to conclude. WWE is currently operating under the guidance of Endeavor and is moving in a profitable direction as McMahon faces the potential consequences of the allegations against him.
