Vince McMahon attends a press convention at MetLife Stadium on February 16, 2012 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Michael N. Todaro | Getty Images
World Wrestling Entertainment’s board is investigating a $3 million hush-money settlement that CEO Vince McMahon paid a girl over an alleged affair, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing paperwork and other people accustomed to the matter.
The settlement, which was struck in January, is meant to stop the girl, who had labored as a paralegal for the corporate, from discussing her relationship with McMahon or making essential statements in regards to the chief government, the Journal added.
A WWE spokesman instructed the newspaper that the corporate is cooperating with the board’s investigation and that the connection between McMahon and the girl was consensual.
McMahon, 76, is married to Linda McMahon, who served as CEO of WWE and as Small Business Administration chief within the administration of former President Donald Trump, who’s a WWE Hall of Famer.
The report stated the board’s investigation, which began in April, additionally revealed nondisclosure pacts associated to misconduct claims from different girls who had labored at WWE. These agreements concerned McMahon and WWE expertise government John Laurinaitis, who wrestled beneath the title Johnny Ace, the Journal added.
WWE did not instantly reply to a request for remark from CNBC.
The board retained Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a New York-based regulation agency, to conduct the investigation, a supply instructed the Journal. The agency did not instantly reply to a request for remark from CNBC.
McMahon’s lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, was not instantly out there for remark. McDevitt instructed the Journal that the previous worker did not make any harassment claims in opposition to McMahon. He additionally stated that WWE did not pay her any cash, the paper stated.
The information comes at a pivotal time for the wrestling-entertainment firm. In May, government Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon, took a depart of absence from most of her obligations on the firm. “WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look ahead to returning to the corporate that I like after taking this time to give attention to my household,” she tweeted on the time.
WWE has additionally been the topic of hypothesis over a possible sale and its media rights. It has offers with Fox, USA Network, Hulu and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service. The Hulu deal expires this 12 months.
The firm is publicly traded, however McMahon owns nearly all of WWE’s voting shares. He took over the corporate from his father, additionally named Vince McMahon, in 1982. Under the youthful McMahon’s oversight, the WWE, then referred to as the World Wrestling Federation, grew to become a world juggernaut. In the many years since, the corporate has spawned superstars similar to Hulk Hogan, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dave Bautista.
This is way from McMahon’s first brush with controversy. In 1993, he was indicted on federal costs associated to anabolic steroids, which he and several other skilled wrestlers within the WWF secure used. He was acquitted of the fees in 1994. McMahon and the corporate additionally got here beneath hearth in 1999 for persevering with a present after celebrity Owen Hart, a brother of Bret’s, fell to his dying from an area’s rafters whereas staging a stunt. The firm ultimately agreed to pay the Hart household $18 million over the wrestler’s dying.
Read the complete Wall Street Journal report right here.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the father or mother firm of CNBC.
– CNBC’s Candice Choi contributed to this report.