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According to a Wall Street Journal article, WWE’s board of directors is looking into Vince McMahon’s agreement to pay a secret $3 million settlement to a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair.
According to the Journal, the anonymous former employee is prohibited from “discussing her relationship with Mr. McMahon or denigrating him” under the terms of the separation agreement, which was reached in January.
The inquiry began in April, and according to the Journal, it has “uncovered additional, older nondisclosure agreements involving claims of misbehavior by Mr. McMahon by former female WWE employees.” In addition, other allegations against John Laurinaitis, the company’s head of talent relations, are said to have been discovered.
On March 30, McMahon, who is 76, allegedly recruited the employee “at a salary of $100,000 but upped it to $200,000 after initiating a sexual connection with her,” according to an email addressed to the WWE board of directors. According to the email, McMahon treated the former employee, a 41-year-old paralegal, as if he were a “toy” for Mr. Laurinaitis.
A WWE spokeswoman told the Journal that the company is cooperating with the investigation and that McMahon’s connection with the former employee was mutually beneficial.
WWE’s board of directors includes WWE officials and even members of McMahon’s family, according to the Journal. Stephanie McMahon and her husband, Paul Levesque, a former wrestler known as Triple H, are among them. In addition, McMahon has a majority of the voting power among the company’s stockholders.
Read Also: Stephanie McMahon sets to leave WWE
McMahon has been a key figure in the WWE for decades, both behind the scenes and in the ring.
The CEO has aided in the company’s transformation into a media behemoth, with arrangements with Fox and NBCUniversal currently in place. McMahon has also aided in developing a number of well-known wrestlers, like The Rock, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who have become more famous than the WWE (WWE).
Vince McMahon resigns as WWE’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Due to an alleged misconduct inquiry, Vince McMahon resigned as WWE Chairman and CEO.
While the inquiry is ongoing, McMahon’s daughter will be in charge of the WWE’s creative material, and his son will take over as CEO.
Vince McMahon is scheduled to appear on Friday’s SmackDown live show following the start of the inquiry.
