The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Vince McMahon reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with former WWE referee Rita Chatterton last month. Chatterton initially came forward with allegations against McMahon in April 1992, claiming McMahon had raped her her in 1986. She would then go on the record again about the allegations in a June 2022 interview with New York Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal reported last month that she had come forward last year demanding $11.75 million in damages. The amount in the settlement is unknown but is reportedly less than that initial number.
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“Mr. McMahon denies and always has denied raping Ms. Chatterton. And he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation,” Jerry McDevitt, McMahon’s lawyer, stated regarding the settlement.
WWE CEO Nick Khan spoke with The Bill Simmons Podcast this week and stated he believes no more allegations regarding McMahon will come forward. As of now, seven women have either received millions of dollars as part of non-disclosure agreements or have come forward with accusations.
“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.
The report also mentions the WWE Board of Directors’ initial unanimous rejection of McMahon’s request to be reinstated to the Board of Directors last month. The Board’s response statement mentioned that it had uncovered something about McMahon that had not been made public, and it’s unclear if this settlement is related to that.
“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.
McMahon, after threatening to use his voting power to block future media rights deals and a potential sale, was reinstated to the Board earlier this month and is now its Executive Chairman. WWE is currently in negotiations for a sale with companies like Comcast, Disney, Amazon, Netflix and Endeavor being named as potential bidders.
