Vince McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) longtime leader, allegedly paid out millions in hush money to a former female wrestler with whom he had a coercive sexual relationship and who was allegedly not brought back to WWE after spurning further sexual advances from the executive, according to a report published Friday in the Wall Street Journal.
McMahon allegedly paid out $7.5 million to the former wrestler, who claimed that McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex, demoted her and then decided not to renew her contract in 2005 after she resisted further sexual encounters with him, per the Journal report. The wrestler and her lawyer reportedly negotiated a non-disclosure agreement with McMahon in 2018.
The Journal report details a total of $12 million allegedly paid out to four women over the last 16 years to quiet allegations of the 76-year-old McMahon’s sexual misconduct.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the WWE board was investigating a secret $3 million payout from McMahon to a former employee, a paralegal, over an alleged affair. In the aftermath of that news, WWE announced McMahon would be stepping away from his duties as chairman and CEO — replaced in the interim by his daughter Stephanie — though he would maintain his role as head of creative. Sources told ESPN at the time that this was largely an optics play and McMahon was still running the company alongside WWE president Nick Khan.
In the new report Friday, the Journal cited documents and those familiar with the deals that McMahon paid the former wrestler $7.5 million for her silence. In addition, McMahon allegedly sent unsolicited naked photos of himself to a WWE contractor and sexually harassed her on the job, leading to about a $1 million non-disclosure settlement in 2008. In a 2006 agreement, a former WWE manager was paid $1 million to stay silent about McMahon initiating a sexual relationship with her.
The WWE board is continuing its investigation, which…
Source : espn
