Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro requested Vince McMahon resign from TKO

New details regarding Vince McMahon's resignation from TKO Group Holdings were revealed today in an article by The Hollywood Reporter. 

The report cites multiple sources stating the graphic details in Janel Grant's lawsuit against WWE, McMahon, and John Lauriniatis took top TKO executives by surprise. It also notes that Mark Shapiro and Ari Emanuel called McMahon and requested he resign the day after the lawsuit was filed. 

The Hollywood Reporter's Alex Weprin wrote:

By the time the Royal Rumble began, McMahon was gone from TKO, seemingly for good, as (TKO) sought to distance itself from McMahon’s alleged past transgressions.

Those concerns culminated the evening of Jan. 26, when Emanuel and TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro called McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to resign. He agreed, and submitted his resignation.

Slim Jim pulling their sponsorship from the Royal Rumble in the wake of Grant's lawsuit was said to be a tipping point for TKO. 

TKO also reached out to WWE's broadcast partners following news of the lawsuit. 

Sources say that TKO executives reached out to all of the company’s rights partners after the news broke, well aware of the need to keep them in the loop on what was happening. 

One source noted to the Hollywood Reporter that had Grant's lawsuit been filed earlier, the $5 billion deal with Netflix may have been put into jeopardy. 

Multiple sources stated that the graphic details included in the lawsuit took TKO executives and WWE talent by surprise. 

The report continues:

According to multiple sources, the lawsuit and the graphic details included in it took senior leadership at TKO and company talent by surprise.