WWE megastar John Cena has stubbornly defended his friendship with former manager and former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon amid McMahon’s legal troubles in recent years, including civil suit against him by former WWE employee Janelle Grantalleging sex trafficking. A: recent interview with The GuardianCena once again went to bash his mentor and said he has “no guilt or shame” about their relationship.
In an interview, Cena outright told The Guardian that he knew they were going to include the statement in the story. The magazine said Cena, who it called a “company man,” took a tough stance “in the face of something so damaging” as the world champion-turned-Hollywood star continued to talk about McMahon.
“It’s okay to love someone when they’re not perfect,” Cena said.
While McMahon was absent from Cena’s retirement tour throughout 2025, “The Never Seen 17” promoted the former president throughout, including right before his retirement match against Gunther. Cena told Bill Simmons that what was happening to McMahon was “trouble”; because McMahony still had a lot to offer in the wrestling world and they couldn’t “pull from that well” anymore. Sina said Joe Rogan that while McMahon must take responsibility for his actions, he also believes that “time heals all wounds.”
The civil suit, which Grant filed in January 2024, went to arbitration in July. The original trial resulted McMahon’s second and final departurefrom WWE in early 2024. The president first retired in July 2022 following the publication of a Wall Street Journal investigative report that looked into a series of payments made by McMahon to silence female employees. He returned to the company to engineer its merger with the UFC to form TKO Group Holdings.
