New Details, Reaction Backstage To Vince McMahon Investigation Over $3 Million Payment For Alleged Affair

UPDATE: A new report by Fightful Select has some more context and on reactions within the company to the investigation into Vince McMahon. The site reports that sources they’ve spoken to suggested that a relationship between Vince McMahon and the woman named in the report by the Wall Street Journal was “suspected” by many within WWE, noting that she was given a significant promotion around the time of WWE’s April 2021 cuts. The woman was reportedly promoted from being John Laurinaitis’ assistant to a “director” role in that spring.

As noted earlier, WWE sent an internal message to staff that read, “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.”

The new report notes that there has been no mention of this investigation whenever there were questions posed to sources about Stephanie McMahon’s leave of absence from WWE in May or Nick Khan taking over some of her duties. As a member of the Board of Directors, Stephanie would have been made aware of the investigation which began in April, as well as Triple H and Nick Khan. The site notes that there was speculation someone in the company intentionally leaked word of the investigation.

Those that the site spoke to within WWE (who spoke on condition of anonymity) agree with what many are assuming — that this is the biggest threat to Vince McMahon in WWE since the steroid trial of 1994. It is expected by many of those sources that John Laurinaitis will be replaced and one source speculated that he’s been set up as Vince’s “latest fall guy” and that “his turn in line was coming.” One male wrestler who was active in the 2000 and 2010s told the site that there had often been rumors of misconduct on Laurinaitis’ part, and a former writer noted that it was openly suspected during the mid-2000s.

According to a former office employee, they believe this will have a domino effect and doesn’t see how Laurinaitis doesn’t resign, though they believe McMahon will fight hard to stay in power.

ORIGINAL: Vince McMahon is reportedly under investigation by the WWE Board of Directors over an alleged $3 million payment made to a former employee he allegedly had a sexual relationship with. A bombshell report by the Wall Street Journal states that the WWE Board is investigating the payment, which was made in January of 2022 that prevents the now-former employee from discussing her relationship with McMahon or disparaging him.

The report notes that the employee was hired as a paralegal in 2019. The investigation began in April and has reportedly uncovered other and older NDAs that involve claims of misconduct made by former WWE employees against McMahon as well as WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. The WSJ has not yet determined how many previous agreements are being looked into, and the outside counsel for the WWE Board is still collecting information about those NDAs although they have determined that the payments totaled in the millions of dollars. McMahon apparently used personal funds to pay the former employee.

According to the report, the Board learned of the allegations via an email sent in March from a friend of the former employee. The email noted that the employee was hired and given a $100,000 salary, which was doubled to $200,000 once she began a relationship with McMahon. The email also alleged that McMahon “gave her like a toy” to Laurinaitis and stated:

“My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry [McDevitt] paid her millions of dollars to shut up.”

The board is investigating the allegations made within the email, according to people familiar with the situation. The 12-person board still includes Stephanie McMahon, who as you will recall took a leave of absence from WWE in May in order to spend time with her family. Board member Man Jit Singh, a former executive for Sony Home Entertainment, is leading the investigation.

A spokesperson for WWE told the outlet that they are cooperating with the investigation, and that the relationship between McMahon and the former employee was consensual. The statement noted that “the company takes the allegations seriously and is dealing with them appropriately.” McMahon and Laurinaitis did not return requests from the WSJ for comment, while WWE attorney Jerry McDevvit told the site the employee hadn’t made any claims of harassment against McMahon and that “WWE did not pay any monies” to the employee “on her departure.”