Ahead of the release of Netflix’s Mr McMahon, Vince McMahon has criticized the “deceptive” documentary series – but his warning hasn’t had the intended effect.
The new documentary, produced by Bill Simmons and Tiger King’s Chris Smith, will chronicle the rise and fall of McMahon, WWE’s co-founder and former chief.
According to Smith, the initial aim of the Netflix docu-series was to dig beneath the titular figure’s notorious persona, but “over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations.”
More specifically, he’s been accused of sexual misconduct, including trafficking and assault allegations, which led to his resignation from the company.
Vince McMahon slams “deceptive” Netflix documentary series
The show premieres on Netflix this week (Wednesday, September 25). McMahon released a statement on social media, taking aim at the streaming service and the series’ producers.
“I don’t regret participating in this Netflix documentary. The producers had an opportunity to tell an objective story about my life and the incredible business I built, which were equally filled with excitement, drama, fun, and a fair amount of controversy and life lessons,” he wrote.
Vince McMahon has released a statement ahead of the Netflix documentary ‘MR. MCMAHON’ release“I hope the viewer will keep an open mind and remember that there are two sides to every story” pic.twitter.com/MLYAnKQl4L
— ScreenTime (@screentime) September 23, 2024
“Unfortunately, based on an early partial cut I’ve seen, this doc falls short and takes the predictable path of conflating the Mr. McMahon’s character with my true self, Vince. The title and promos alone make that evident.”
McMahon believes “a lot has been misrepresented or left out entirely in an effort to leave viewers intentionally confused,” and he accused the producers of using “typical editing tricks with out-of-context footage and date soundbites to distort the viewers’ perception and support a deceptive narrative.”
“In an attempt to further their misleading account, the producers use a lawsuit based on an affair I ended as evidence that I am, in fact, ‘Mr. McMahon.’ I hope the viewer will keep an open mind and remember that there are two sides to every story.”
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WWE fans are even more curious about Mr McMahon now
The statement made its way onto Reddit, where many members of the wrestling community had the same response: if McMahon doesn’t like it, it must be worth watching.
“In a weird way, Vince not being a fan and issuing this statement is probably the best promotion for the series,” one user commented, and plenty of people have agreed.
“Okay I’m actually interested in it now that Vince is publicly disowning it,” another wrote, and a third added: “Seriously, the talk of it being absolutely brutal on Vince must be true.”
Here’s the interesting thing: starting in January 2025, Netflix will host WWE’s weekly Raw show. When Mr McMahon was announced, viewers expressed concern over a possible conflict of interest; would the platform really want to damage the reputation of an entertainment empire just as it’s acquired it?
However, McMahon’s statement suggests Netflix hasn’t sanitized his story or the allegations against him.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that bad. It’s on Netflix, Simmons is producing it (Ringer has a partnership with WWE) and the trailer was full of people who talk glowingly about Vince (Rock, Prichard, etc),” one user pointed out.
“But now that Vince put out a statement? That changed my mind. They just have more than the usual stuff covered in things like Dark Side [of the Ring].”
Before Mr McMahon drops, you should check out our list of the most shocking Netflix documentaries, as well as the creepiest documentaries available on YouTube.