A new report has claimed that Vince McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million in “hush money” to four women.
The storm around Vince McMahon continues as a report has laid out a series of further allegations.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Vince McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women who were affiliated with WWE over the course of 16 years. It’s alleged that the women also signed agreements which prohibited them from discussing their relationships with McMahon.
The settlements include a $7.5 million pact with a former wrestler who alleged that “Vince McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex and then demoted her and, ultimately, declined to renew her contract in 2005 after she resisted further sexual encounters.”
It is claimed that the wrestler approached McMahon and negotiated the payment in 2018 in exchange for her silence.
The report also alleges that a “WWE contractor” presented the company with unsolicited nude photos of McMahon she had received from the WWE boss. People familiar with 2018 nondisclosure agreement and the woman in question allege that McMahon sexually harassed her on the job.
In a 2006 agreement a former manager worked for McMahon for 10 years “before he allegedly initiated a sexual relationship with her was paid $1 million to keep quiet about it, according to people familiar with the deal.”
The report also notes that John Laurinaitis is also being investigated over a “$1.5 million nondisclosure agreement reached in 2012 with an employee.”
Laurinaitis stepped down from his role as Head of Talent Relations at around the same time that the deal with the employee was reached. It is alleged that Laurinaitis demoted the woman after she ended their affair.
The new reports come after it emerged in June that McMahon is already being investigated over a similar payment he made to a former employee with whom he had an affair. McMahon later stepped down from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board. He was replaced on an interim basis by his daughter Stephanie McMahon.
Despite stepping back from his corporate role, Vince McMahon retained his responsibilities related to WWE’s creative content.