When Vince McMahon first approached WWE’s Board of Directors about being reinstated to the Board as its Executive Chairman last month, the Board responded with a statement declaring they were unanimously against the idea. The statement also alluded to another potential allegation against McMahon coming to light, which has still not been made public as of this writing. The Wall Street Journal began releasing reports last year of McMahon paying nearly $20 million in non-disclosure agreements in order to keep various sexual misconduct allegations quiet. Seven women have either been paid or are demanding millions in reparations for McMahon’s alleged actions, which have ranged from sexual coercion to rape.
“It is also our unanimous view that your return to the Company at this time, while government investigation into your conduct by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and SEC are still pending, would not be prudent from a shareholder value perspective. The determination is based on a variety of factors, including non-public information that the Board has become aware of and the risks to the Company and its shareholders of placing a greater spotlight of these issues,” the statement read.
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WWE CEO Nick Khan was a guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast this week and was asked on multiple occasions about McMahon’s legal situation. He said he did not believe more allegations would come to light.
“It feels like whatever happened, happened, and it’s out there and people know. I’ve always found him to be a very honest broker with this stuff. Even when the process started last summer, there was nothing that he hid, nothing that he covered up. He was very honest about it, I appreciated that, and I think a lot of other folks did too,” Khan said.
He also claimed in the interview that none of the McMahon accusations, particularly former WWE referee Rita Chatterton’s rape allegation, would slow down a potential WWE sale. McMahon based his return on the idea that he needs to be the one spearheading WWE’s next round of media rights deals and a potential sale and threatened to use his voting power on the board to shut down any deals if he was not brought back.
“I think everyone’s just plowing ahead. Because in all of these businesses, there’s never a clean, clear path,” Khan said. “There’s always some encumbrance, something in the way, some hurdle in the way that you have to get around or get through. So I see that like I would any other item like it.”
