One ofWWE’s most controversial figures is its chairman and CEO, 76-year-old Vince McMahon. McMahon has portrayed a villain on WWE television over the years, most famously feuding with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at the height of theAttitude Erain the late 1990s, but he’s also been involved in a number of real-world scandals as well. The latest involves an alleged affair McMahon had with a former employee, which is said to have ended with a $3 million “hush money” settlement.
This is according to a new report byThe Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the WWE board is investigatingVince McMahonover a $3 million settlement that occurred in January of this year. McMahon was reportedly in a “consensual” relationship with the unnamed woman. The WWE board was first tipped off about the situation by anonymous emails sent on March 30. The emails claimed that McMahon hired the woman to work as a paralegal with a salary of $100,000, but doubled that to $200,000 after starting a sexual relationship with her.
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The emails went on to claim that McMahon “gave her like a toy” to John Laurinaitis, a WWE executive who is currently in charge of talent relations. John Laurinaitis previously had an on-screen presence as the villainous General Manager of Raw, feuding with the likes of John Cena andCM Punk.
After receiving the emails, the WWE board began investigating both Vince McMahon andJohn Laurinaitis, with the investigation starting in April. The board’s investigation has allegedly discovered nondisclosure agreements that McMahon and Laurinaitis have with other women who have worked for WWE in the past who apparently made misconduct claims against the executives.The Wall Street Journalreached out to McMahon’s lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, who said that the employee involved in the $3 million hush money situation did not make any harassment claims against McMahon and that WWE did not pay her. McMahon and WWE are said to be cooperating with the investigation.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this has onWWEmoving forward. It’s possible this might be what finally pushes the 76-year-old McMahon to step down from his leadership role at the company, but it’s also possible that nothing will come about from it. After all, McMahon has found himself at the center of a number major controversies over the years, and the only time he was ever really close to giving up control of WWE was when he was being prosecuted by the federal government in the mid-90s steroid trial.
