On Friday, news broke that WWE founder and former chairman Vince McMahon had reached a settlement with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding charges that he had failed to properly disclose hush money payments he made to multiple women who accused him of sexual misconduct during his time running the company.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the 79-year-old McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty while reimbursing WWE $1.3 million without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings as a part of the settlement.
Shortly thereafter, McMahon took to social media to release the following statement:
“The case is closed. Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies. There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading. In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) January 10, 2025
Yet despite McMahon’s assertion that “the case is closed” it might be more accurate to state that “a case is closed.” That’s because the lawsuit against McMahon by a former WWE employee, Janel Grant, accusing him of sexual misconduct, including assault and trafficking, is still pending, with Grant’s legal team releasing its own statement with regard to the former chairman’s settlement on Friday.
“During his time leading WWE, Vince McMahon acted as if rules did not apply to him, and now we have confirmation that he repeatedly broke the law to cover up his horrifying behavior, including human trafficking,” the statement reads, according to Sports Illustrated. “The SEC’s charges prove that the NDA Vince McMahon coerced Ms. Grant into signing violates the law, and therefore her case must be heard in court. While prosecutors for the Southern District of New York continue their criminal investigation, we look forward to bringing forward new evidence in our civil case about the sexual exploitation Ms. Grant endured at WWE by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis.”
Intentionally or not, McMahon’s statement led many to believe that his legal troubles are now behind him. Ultimately, however, the lawsuit that led to his ouster from WWE last January remains active, while it’s unclear where the reported federal investigation into Grant’s accusations stands.
As for the latest on the lawsuit, POST Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston reported last week that Grant’s legal team was planning to amend its initial lawsuit following the conclusion of a six-month stay that expired in December. In addition to McMahon, WWE and former executive John Laurinaitis are named as plaintiffs in the suit, with all three entities having maintained their innocence.
