Vince McMahon Accused Of Withholding Documents Related To Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Vince McMahon has been accused of withholding documents related to sexual misconduct allegations against him. The accusation was made by WWE shareholders as part of an ongoing lawsuit over WWE's merger with UFC into TKO Group Holdings.

The lawsuit filed in November 2023 by the Ohio Laborers’ Pension Fund, as well as a pension fund in Michigan, and Professor Dennis Palkon of Florida Atlantic University accuses WWE of breaching their fiduciary duties by bringing Vince McMahon back in 2023 and agreeing to the WWE-UFC merger. It is claimed this put McMahon's interests above those of other shareholders and that other offers to purchase WWE were not fairly considered as they would have resulted in McMahon being pushed out of the company, while the WWE-UFC merger under TKO allowed McMahon to remain a part of WWE. According to the lawsuit, this resulted in shareholders receiving a less valuable deal, while the TKO merger secured Vince McMahon's future and "stuffed the pockets of his loyalists."

In addition to WWE, WWE President Nick Khan, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson are named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court.

The lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase and it recently emerged that filings were made last week asking the Delaware Court of Chancery to compel McMahon to respond to discovery requests. It was noted the plaintiffs are seeking non-privileged materials related to McMahon for the period between January 1, 2022 and March 12, 2024.

In an update, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics noted that a public version of the motion to compel McMahon to respond to the requests has revealed the shareholders are requesting documents related to the sexual misconduct allegations, nondisclosure payments, and investigations. It is argued by the shareholders that these documents are relevant to McMahon's motivations to regaining control of the WWE Board in January 2023 and the merger under TKO Group Holdings.

The new filing claims McMahon has rejected producing documents on those topics unless they explicitly discuss the merger or involve certain high-ranking executives.

The new filing states they "are not seeking to re-litigate the merits of the underlying Sexual Misconduct Allegations or assess the rigor of any investigation. Rather, Plaintiffs are focused on obtaining discovery about how the Sexual Misconduct Topics impacted McMahon’s motivations and decision-making."