Vince McMahon, longtime chairman, and chief executive of WWE — agreed to pay $12 million in “hush money” to 4 different women over a 16-year time period.
Close sources say all of the women were formerly associated with WWE and they all signed agreements with McMahon preventing them from discussing their relationship with the now 76-year-old billionaire.
One of the reported settlements included a $7.5 million payment to a former wrestler … who according to WSJ, claimed McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex. McMahon declined to re-sign the wrestler to a new deal after she refused further sexual encounters.
In 2018, the wrestler and her lawyer negotiated a $7.5 million settlement with McMahon in exchange for her silence.
There were also two other payouts made to former female employees around 2006 and 2008. Both of those women received around $1 million.
The new report comes on the heels of another story that led to McMahon voluntarily stepping down from his position. In that case, McMahon agreed to pay a former WWE paralegal $3 million after they had an affair following her hiring in 2019.
WWE’s Board of Directors recently hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations. McMahon has said he’s “committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work.”
Meanwhile, Vince’s daughter, Stephanie, is back with the company as interim CEO and interim chairwoman after briefly taking a leave of absence “to focus on family.”
McMahon has been seen regularly on WWE programming since the initial report of a payout came to light with appearances on both “Smackdown” and “Raw.”
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