World Wrestling Entertainment’s board is investigating a secret $3 million settlement that CEO Vince McMahon Jr. agreed to pay to a former female employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal, citing documents and people familiar with the situation, said that the agreement struck by McMahon, 76, was intended to prevent the departing employee, who was hired as a paralegal in 2019, from disclosing her relationship with the longtime WWE executive or making critical statements about him.
The probe, which began in April, also reportedly unearthed similar pacts made with former female workers on behalf of John Laurinaitis, a former wrestler who currently manages talent relations for WWE, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A WWE spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company is cooperating with the board’s investigation and that the relationship between McMahon and the woman was consensual.
The board’s eight independent directors have retained New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to conduct the investigation, the newspaper reported, citing an anonymous source. Preliminary findings show that McMahon used personal funds to pay former female employees who signed the agreements, including the one involving allegations against Laurinaitis.
[ Stephanie McMahon stepping away from WWE to focus on family ]
In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, McMahon’s attorney, Jerry McDevitt, said that the former employee had not made any claims of harassment against the WWE’s CEO and that the organization “did not pay any monies” to her “on her departure.”
McDevitt, a Pittsburgh-based partner at law firm K&L Gates, has represented WWE and McMahon for decades, according to The Wall Street Journal. He defended them in the 1990s against federal charges of distributing and conspiring to distribute steroids to WWE wrestlers, winning an acquittal in 1994.
McMahon built WWE into a worldwide organization, shattering the former concept of “territories” that were part of a “gentlemen’s agreement” between promoters, including the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now WWE), which was founded and run by McMahon’s father, Vince McMahon Sr. Promotions such as the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Alliance and WWWF maintained territorial borders and did not infringe on other promotions.
[ Wrestler Triple H announces retirement ]
Vince McMahon Jr. changed that during the 1980s, offering professional wrestling matches on national television and hosting major events such as WrestleMania.
McMahon Jr.’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, who is also a WWE executive, took a leave of absence in May.
Vince McMahon Jr. remains the only family member with an active role in WWE. His son, Shane McMahon, stepped down as an executive in 2010, according to People. Shane McMahon was released from WWE earlier this year, according to CBS Sports.