Last month, the Wall Street Journal broke a story that not only did Vince McMahon, the emperor of sports entertainment, pay a former paralegal that worked for the WWE $3 million to keep quiet about an affair he had with her a few years ago, the now-former Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis was also involved with her before she left the company. The non-disclosure agreement prevented her from revealing any of the details of her affair with McMahon, but anonymous e mails sent to the WWE Board of Directors made the story public, and it was published by the Wall Street Journal.
Many assumed this was the end of Vince’s time as the kingpin of pro wrestling.
In true McMahon fashion, on the same day the story was publicized by main stream media outlets, he opened the broadcast on Smackdown, which was nothing more than a snub to his detractors, as an adoring crowd cheered and bowed to him. An earlier announcement put his daughter, Stephanie in place at the interim CEO, while Vince maintained his position as the head of the creative team. As we know with his boosting on television, the interim title is merely a PR move, his appearances on WWE programming were to let the world know that he was still in charge of his company.
As I wrote at the time, while the story of another powerful CEO paying off someone he had an affair with was sleazy and there was a certain amount of embarrassment for the McMahon family because of Vince’s infidelity, as long as the nondisclosure was paid with his personal cash then his role in the WWE wasn’t at risk. Keep in mind, this was a consensual relationship so as long as company money wasn’t used to keep her quiet then the Board of Directors didn’t automatically have a way to give McMahon his walking papers.
However, it was reported that the board had retained the services of a firm to investigate the situation and it was suggested that other nondisclosure agreements would be uncovered during the investigation.
Last week, another story hit the news with much more damaging allegations toward McMahon. The Wall Street Journal reported that there were more women that signed nondisclosure agreements that totaled $12 million over the past 16 years. The details of these encounters don’t paint Vince in a favorable light and could be what lands the czar of pro wrestling outside of his sports entertainment empire.
A 2005 account claims that a former wrestler had a sexual encounter with McMahon, but when she declined to participate any further after that, she was demoted and eventually her contract wasn’t renewed. In 2018, she and her lawyer approached the company and McMahon agreed to pay $7.5 million for her to sign a nondisclosure agreement. In 2006, he had another affair with someone that worked in the company and paid her $1 million to stay quiet about it. Details on a 2008 incident surfaced that Vince paid another $1 million to a former employee that he sent unsolicited nude photos to when she worked for the company and attempted to pursue a relationship with her that she declined.
In truth, I waited to discuss this topic of the latest allegations, simply because I wanted to see if any new claims were going to be made against McMahon since it would provide a clearer picture as the situation develops in the news. Again, if Vince had a consensual affair with the paralegal a few years ago, and with the employee from the 2006 claim then only the moral or ethical side of the situation is in question. Regarding the nude photos that he allegedly sent in 2008, if he sent unwanted photos then it’s a case of sexual harassment.
Obviously, consenting adults have the right to do what they want in their personal lives, but there’s a very clear difference between a private relationship and sexual misconduct.
The bottom line is, if a CEO is harassing his employees then he shouldn’t have power in the company, but this is the wrestling business and we all know it’s not exactly an industry known for its ethical standards. That said, as much as it would’ve seemed unthinkable that the WWE would exist without Vince McMahon, I really don’t see how he maintains his position in the company, at least officially, after the latest allegations. The fact that the former wrestler was paid $7.5 million for the incident in 2005 implies that it must’ve been something really terrible and that alone creates questions about if McMahon should stay in a position of power. Furthermore, while consensual relationships aren’t a form of misconduct, there’s definitely a pattern based on the current number of allegations, which makes you wonder, how many more of these claims will be uncovered before the conclusion of the investigation?
I don’t see how Vince stays in the company after all of this, but at the same time, it wouldn’t shock me because McMahon survived negative publicity before. If Vince exits, now would probably be a time period where the promotion would take minimal damage. Sure, the stock price would drop initially, but with the television deals and the Peacock deal, the company is guaranteed to tout record-setting profits for the next few years. The brass tacks of the global corporation is profitability and as long as the investors continue to make money then the WWE is fine, even without McMahon.
Nick Khan, who has credibility from his resume outside of the world of sports entertainment, could be the business figure head, while Stephanie and Triple H run the bulk of the wrestling operations, at least publicity. Aside from the possible domino effect these latest claims could have, as I said previously, the entire scenario makes pro wrestling, including everyone involved in it, look terrible. Granted, it’s not shocking that a business that started in the carnival circuit is scummy, but putting sports entertainment on the stock market didn’t change too many of the shady incidents. Perhaps, the stock market and the billions of dollars of guaranteed money made Vince McMahon think he was teflon that’s not the case when outside firms get a chance to investigate the situation.
It’s ironic that the platform that allowed Vince McMahon to become a billionaire, taking the company public and thus allowing a board of directors to have a role in the promotion, might lead to his exit from the organization.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
