A class-action lawsuit has been filed against WWE, Vince McMahon, Georgie Barrios, and Michelle Wilson by the City of Warren Police and Fire Retirement System in regard to the company’s deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The action was filed yesterday.
“This is a securities fraud class action on behalf of all purchasers of WWE Class A common stock between February 7, 2019 and February 5, 2020,” read documents relating to the case. “These claims are asserted against WWE and certain of its senior executives who made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company during the Class Period.”
The filings continue to state that WWE hid tensions between the company and the Saudi government from investors.
“Unbeknownst to investors, the events in late 2018 fomented simmering tensions between WWE and the Saudi government. In particular, conservative elements of the Saudi government disliked WWE’s portrayal of women and what they viewed as the questionable morality reflected in WWE programming and live shows. At the same time, WWE was under immense pressure to justify its decision to continue working with the Saudi government and outwardly claimed that it was trying to push for change from within the country.”
The filings then contend that WWE publicly displayed confidence in the ongoing Saudi deal despite the ongoing trouble related to it.
“In reality, however, the prospects for a deal continued to worsen throughout the Class Period, as the Saudi government failed to make millions of dollars in additional payments owed to WWE following a June 2019 live event held in the country and the negotiations with OSN floundered.”
WWE is also dealing with legal action from the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension Fund, seeking transparency on the relationship between WWE and the XFL.
