This week, Mr. McMahon, a six-part docuseries from Netflix, will launch on the streaming juggernaut, giving fans an up-close look at one of wrestling’s most controversial names. With steroids, sexual harassment, and Chris Benoit covered in the trailer alone, no topic will be off limits in this series, despite Vince McMahon’s best efforts.
McMahon reportedly attempted to prevent the release of the docuseries, Dave Meltzer reports, after realizing it would not be as favorable to him as he had hoped. Before WWE’s deal with Netflix was signed in January of this year, McMahon tried to buy the rights to the series to block its release. When Netflix refused, McMahon turned to Ari Emanuel, hoping the Endeavor CEO would be able to win over Netflix brass, but again came up short.
This practice of buying media to prevent its release is known as ‘Catch and Kill’ and isn’t confined to McMahon alone, with celebrities and allies using the practice to bury bad press. In 2015, American Media paid $30,000 to a Trump Tower doorman for the exclusive rights to his story that he’d overheard a conversation about Donald Trump having a child with a woman who is not his wife. Despite paying, American Media, whose CEO David Pecker is a friend of the former president, never published the story.
Despite McMahon’s best efforts, Mr. McMahon will launch on Netflix this week with wrestling fans eager to see how his controversial legacy is covered. McMahon has already begun distancing himself from the project, claiming to have been grossly mischaracterized. Janel Grant’s attorney Ann Callis has also issued a statement, calling McMahon’s conduct abhorrent and criminal.
