Today officially marks two weeks since Vince McMahon resigned from his role as Executive Chairman of TKO Group Holdings. His resignation came within 24 hours of a lawsuit being filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant in which he was accused of sexual abuse, exploitation, trafficking and more. Many current and former talents have given their thoughts on the horrific allegations made against McMahon in recent weeks, with WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart being the latest to do so.
In a new interview with Slate Magazine, Hart revealed that the lawsuit being filed wasn’t the first time he heard of issues arising surrounding McMahon. In fact, he claims to have been warned a few months ago that McMahon, “was in big trouble that he wasn’t going to be able to sweep under the rug.”
Later, Hart questioned the idea that McMahon is the only figure in the company responsible for the kind of behaviour alleged in the suit. During his time as an active in-ring competitor, Hart claims that whispers of sexual abuse were prevalent throughout the industry.
“I don’t think this is the only incident of this kind of predatory behavior,” Hart said. “I think you’ll find that it’s everywhere in [WWE].”
As to why he never spoke out against what he’d heard about McMahon, Hart compared the former WWE Chairman power to John Gotti in that McMahon was too powerful and rich to have any sort of serious allegation stick to him.
“It’s kind of like The Godfather: You never know when a guy like Vince will be your enemy again over something you say or do. He’s the Teflon guy, you just can’t seem to get anything on him. He’s just too powerful, got too much money.”
Despite admitting that McMahon has had a profound impact on his life, noting that he “wouldn’t be the same man I am today” without Vince, Hart acknowledged that McMahon is now tainted in a similar fashion to the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffery Epstein in that he’ll always be linked to what has been alleged.
“It’s like Jeffrey Dahmer, Harvey Weinstein, or Jeffrey Epstein: Vince will be a joke,” Hart said. “He’ll be used for humor, and you’ll shake your head at the shock value of some joke about, ‘What did Vince McMahon do?’ He’ll always be associated with this story, especially as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.”