Former WWE Employee Sues, Claims "Sexual Abuse for 4 Years"
"McMahon Paid 15.5 Billion Won to Cover Up Sexual Scandal"
Vince McMahon (78), the founder of the world-renowned professional wrestling organization World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has once again been embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal. He previously resigned from his chairman position after being sued last month by a woman who worked at WWE on various sexual crime charges.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 2nd (local time) that "the New York federal prosecutors are in contact with women who claim to have suffered sexual assault and harassment by McMahon, and are taking their testimonies."
According to CNN and others on the 25th of last month, Janet Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit against McMahon in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut, accusing him of physical and mental abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking. In the complaint, she claimed that from 2019 to 2022, she suffered sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and human trafficking at the hands of Chairman McMahon.
Grant explained, "While working at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, I was severely sexually abused by McMahon." She also named another WWE executive, John Laurinaitis, as an accomplice. It is alleged that McMahon pressured Laurinaitis and other WWE executives to engage in sexual relations.
McMahon purchased WWF, a minor American professional wrestling organization, in 1982, and in the early 2000s acquired competing wrestling companies such as WCW, securing TV broadcasting rights contracts to grow it into a global organization. Later, last year, he merged WWE with Endeavor Group, which owns the mixed martial arts competition UFC, and established a parent company called TKO Group, becoming its chairman. Currently, TKO's market value reaches $14.7 billion (approximately 19.5 trillion KRW).
However, separate from his thriving business, sexual crime controversies surfaced, leading McMahon to resign last month from both WWE chairman and TKO chairman positions. He then issued a statement saying, "These are baseless allegations. I will fight to the end to protect my honor."
This is not the first time McMahon has faced sexual crime allegations. In 2022, he also resigned from the WWE chairman position due to a sexual scandal. However, the controversy subsided after settlements with the victims, and McMahon returned as chairman the following year.
At that time, it was revealed that McMahon used his position to coerce sexual acts from female WWE wrestlers and subsequently paid $7.5 million (approximately 9.98 billion KRW) as hush money. Additionally, a woman who worked as a referee at WWE claimed she was sexually assaulted by McMahon.
WSJ reported in July last year that "McMahon spent $12 million (approximately 1.55 billion KRW) over the past 16 years to cover up his sexual misconduct issues."
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