Paul 'Triple H' Levesque has been criticised for his comments surrounding the allegations about his father-in-law Vince McMahon, claiming that the WWE had an 'amazing week.'
Speaking at the Royal Rumble post-show press conference Levesque was asked about the very serious allegations of sexual trafficking that were made in a new lawsuit this week by former WWE employee Janel Grant. McMahon, who stepped down as WWE CEO in 2022, resigned as the executive chairman as TKO Group Holdings on Friday. Silm Jim, a major sponsor for the company announced that they would be 'stepping back' from their but quickly u-turned when McMahon made his exit.
Asked by the media if he had read the 67-page lawsuit against McMahon, Levesque said: "I did not. I did not. Cody [Rhodes] mentioned it, we all found out real time when you were. That’s the truth."
The 54-year-old former WWE champion went on to add that he considered it to be an "amazing week" for WWE, an apparent nod to the lucrative $5 billion deal with Netflix.
"I’ll go back to what I said before. It’s an amazing week for us," Levesque continued. "I don’t even want to get bogged down in the negatives of it. I just want to focus on the positives and where we’re going. We’re at the most exciting time of the year for us and the most exciting point, to me, business-wise, that we’ve ever had.”
Veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer called the answer to the questions 'brutal' adding: "Your father in law was just accused of sex trafficking and rape. Everyone knows how much I personally like Paul, but this was bad. The most powerful man in the history of the business was just removed in disgrace. This was really bad."
In comparison, Cody Rhodes, who spoke before Levesque and had just won the Royal Rumble match, gave a much different answer when asked what could be done to prevent similar situations like the accusations against McMahon from happening again.
Rhodes said: "That’s a great question. I know as far as the news is concerned, we were finding it out and reading the same things that you guys were reading. You said a dark cloud, it’s certainly….As far as TKO, Nick Khan, the board clearly took it very seriously, acted immediately, and looking at the future, I don’t know the answer to that. I think somewhere is probably a basic tenet of just, this crew, more than ever from a roster standpoint, is very family. Never seen anything like this.”
McMahon has denied the allegations against him. In a statement released on Friday a spokesman for the 78-year-old said: "I stand by my prior statement that Ms Grant's lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth.
The statement added: "Out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately."
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