Vince McMahon is being investigated by WWE’s Board of Directors for allegedly paying a secret $3 million settlement to a former employee that he was having an affair with, according to The Wall Street Journal. The unnamed employee, a paralegal hired in 2019, signed an agreement that prevents them from discussing the relationship. The board, according to the new report that dropped on Monday, found multiple other nondisclosure agreements signed by former employees of alleged misconduct by McMahon and WWE’s Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.
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It’s unknown how many nondisclosure agreements have been found, but the report stated that McMahon used his own personal funds to pay off the former employees. A WWE spokesperson told WSJ that the company is “cooperating fully with the board inquiry and that the relationship with the ex-paralegal was consensual,” adding that the allegations are being taken seriously.
Jerry McDevitt, McMahon’s attorney, wrote a letter to the paper denying the accusation, declaring, “WWE did not pay any monies” to the former employee when she left the company. The board members were informed of the $3 million payment via a series of anonymous emails from someone claiming to be a friend of the recipient. The first email said McMahon doubled the woman’s salary after their relationship began and that McMahon “gave her like a toy” to Laurinaitis.
“My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry (McDevitt) paid her millions of dollars to shut up,” the email read. A copy of the nondisclosure agreement was sent by McMahon’s lawyers to the board on June 12.
WWE has since sent out an internal statement regarding the report — “The Wall Street Journal has published a report about WWE with allegations that we and our Board of Directors take seriously. We are cooperating fully with the independent investigation initiated by our Board of Directors.”
