John Cena is not backing down from his longtime friendship with Vince McMahon. In a new interview with The Guardian published October 4, 2026, while promoting Matchbox: The Movie, the 17-time WWE world champion and Hollywood star made his position crystal clear.
“I have no guilt nor shame about my friendship and my relationship with Vince McMahon,”
Cena said. He followed it up immediately:
“You’re obviously going to put this in your article. It’s OK to love somebody when they’re not perfect.”
McMahon, the former WWE chairman who transformed the company into a global brand, resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings in January 2024. That came one day after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, sex trafficking and related misconduct. McMahon has denied the allegations.
On July 2026, both sides voluntarily agreed to withdraw the federal suit with prejudice and arbitrate the matter privately. The issues raised can be resolved through private means. No trial has been held and there is no public acknowledgment of any liability on part of either party.
Cena and McMahon go back more than two decades. McMahon helped shape Cena’s rise from “The Prototype” in 2000 into one of WWE’s biggest stars and a mainstream actor. Cena has repeatedly called McMahon a mentor who provided a kind of second family during the road years. His latest remarks continue a consistent public stance. In 2023 he told the Associated Press he could not say he does not love McMahon. On the Howard Stern Show in 2024 he balanced friendship with a call for accountability. In 2025 he told The New York Times,
“I don’t care who hears it: I love Vince.”
Some fans see Cena’s loyalty as principled consistency with a man who launched his career. Others argue public support for McMahon feels tone-deaf given the seriousness of the allegations that remain unresolved in any public forum.
Cena is not claiming the legal questions are settled. He is drawing a personal line: he feels no guilt or shame about the friendship itself. The moral weight of that choice is still open to debate. The quotation, however, is real.
