Netflix Chief Content Officer Addresses Concerns Over WWE Deal Following Vince McMahon Lawsuit

Vince McMahon was brought up at Netflix’s 'Next on Netflix' press event on Wednesday at the Tudum Theater in Hollywood, California.

McMahon resigned as TKO Executive Chairman last week, ending his day-to-day involvement with WWE, although he remains a major shareholder in TKO. The 78-year-old’s exit came after former WWE employee Janel Grant accused McMahon of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse. John Laurinaitis was also accused of sexual assault, while WWE were accused of attempting to cover up the allegations against McMahon.

The filing of Grant's lawsuit came only a few days after it was announced that WWE Raw will air on Netflix from January 2025 as part of a 10-year deal worth $5 billion. The WWE-Netflix deal was expanded outside of the United States as SmackDown, NXT, and premium live events will air on Netflix in territories like the United Kingdom from next year. 

Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria was reportedly a key figure in negotiations with WWE over the deal and she was asked about concerns over the WWE partnership following the Vince McMahon allegations. 

Bajaria said: “He’s gone. So he’s not there. He’s gone.” 

Netflix Vice President of Unscripted and Documentary Series Brandon Ring appeared to be happy with the deal, saying: “I think we’re all really bullish on it, but we know that has an incredibly consistent audience for the last several decades. And so that’s really first and foremost where we’re starting at, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”

Reports have indicated that Netflix may have backed out of the deal with WWE had the Janel Grant lawsuit been filed one week earlier. Having put pen to paper, Netflix are “full steam ahead” with the new partnership following McMahon’s resignation. 

H/T Hollywood Reporter