According to reports, WWE head honcho Vince McMahon paid upwards of $12 million to four female employees who made allegations of sexual assault against him.
Glenn Schouw, in Johannesburg – The alleged “Spear” of WWE, Vince McMahon, paid upwards of $12 million to four female employees.
This is up from the $3m paid to a woman as reported last month by The Wall Street Journal, as more sexually abused women in the WWE Universe have now stepped into the square ring.
A reported $7.5m was paid to a WWE wrestler who alleged that McMahon coerced her into performing oral sex, as reported by the New York Post.
She paid a price by resisting further demands from the now 77-year-old billionaire WWE kingpin. McMahon allegedly demoted the wrestler and allowed her contract to expire in 2005.
It gets worse for Vince McMahon and WWE.
Vince McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million over the past 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity
– WSJ pic.twitter.com/7s6s1jenHG
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) July 8, 2022
However, this time there was no escape for the alleged WWE sexual predator.
The wrestler, encouraged by the ongoing success of the Me Too movement, took the courageous decision to fight back.
McMahon was forced to tap out after he was confronted by the wrestler and her legal team in 2018.
Vince McMahon paid $12 million to four women over the past 16 years to stop allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity becoming public, per @WSJ pic.twitter.com/4ZWKdR3cY6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 8, 2022
In a separate incident, McMahon reportedly agreed to pay about $1m in 2008 to settle allegations from an ex-WWE contractor who accused him of sexual harassment in the workplace and sending her unsolicited nude photos.
In 2006, $1m in settlement was reportedly paid to a manager who worked for McMahon for 10 years after he allegedly initiated a sexual relationship with her.
If this was not enough, more shocking details have been revealed by Rita Chatterton, the WWE’s first female referee, who had previously accused McMahon of having raped her in 1986.
New York Intelligencer recently released a shock and awe interview that was done in 1992. Chatterton said she was able to speak freely since both her parents had died.
She recounts that in July 1986, she travelled to the Mid-Hudson Civic Centre in Poughkeepsie in order to get an audience with McMahon and discuss her future with the company.
They met in his limousine. “Vince begins to talk about a contract of half-a-million dollars a year. Next thing I know, Vince is dropping his pants.”
Chatterton continued: “Vince went on, you know. ‘If you want a half-million-dollar contract, you’re going to have to satisfy me, and that’s the way things have to go’.
“Vince grabbed my hand, kept trying to put my hand on him. I was scared. By the end, my wrist was all purple, black, and blue. Things didn’t … He just … God, he didn’t stop. This man. It just didn’t stop.
“I was forced to perform oral sex on Vince McMahon. When I couldn’t satisfy his desires, he got really angry, started ripping my jeans off, put me on top of him and told me again if I wanted a half-a-million-dollar contract year, I had to satisfy him.
“If I didn’t satisfy him, he would throw me out on the street and it would all be over.”
Chatterton said she can never forget what he told her when the assault ended: “Remember when I told you not to go near any wrestlers? Well, you just did,” McMahon said.
The trigger for this latest scandal with the hush money soaring to $12m was last month’s report that McMahon, who has been married to Linda McMahon since 1966, allegedly forked out $3m hush money to one employee.
The WWE board of directors received an anonymous email alleging that McMahon had an affair with a WWE employee who was hired in 2019 and left in January 2022.
In the anonymous email, it was said that McMahon “gave her like a toy” to WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who is also under investigation by the board.
In addition to that, the board is looking into a claim that there was a $1.5m non-disclosure agreement reached in 2012 with an employee who made misconduct claims against Laurinaitis.
WWE Superstars are said to be shocked at McMahon over his handling of the allegations made against him and Laurinaitis — although none are able to talk publicly about it.
Fightful Select, quoted an unnamed source, saying a defiant McMahon shouted “F**k em!” after returning backstage following his June 17th SmackDown appearance — the same day he stepped back from his chairman and CEO roles.
Rumours of McMahon’s behaviour were known within the writing team, with a former writer for the company saying that McMahon’s activities were a “half-joking” excuse as to why he was late to meetings.
