Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro reportedly told Vince McMahon it would be best to resign.
Across the last two weeks, news headlines have been dominated by the lawsuit brought against WWE and Vince McMahon by Janel Grant, who alleged cases abuse and sexual exploitation against the 78-year-old. This led to sponsors such as Slim Jim pausing their promotional activities with the company until McMahon had officially stepped away from his role at TKO.
To provide further insight into the situation, The Hollywood Reporter have reported that it was Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro who called Vince to advise him to resign from the company.
“Emanuel and TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro called McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to resign. He agreed, and submitted his resignation.”
-Hollywood Reporter
The report also noted that, although McMahon has been until intense scrutiny for sexual misconduct in the past, the specifics and graphic detail involved this time round took the TKO Group by surprise.
“According to multiple sources, the lawsuit and the graphic details included in it took senior leadership at TKO and company talent by surprise.”
-Hollywood Reporter
It’s said that the removal of McMahon is something that the company felt they had to do to avoid losing out on other agreements. Although WWE recently announced a ten year partnership with Netflix worth $5 billion, it’s believed that the streaming service has an out clause halfway through the deal to provide an easy exit if needed.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the allegations made against Vince McMahon and WWE as soon as we hear more.
