Vince McMahon, the CEO and Chairman of WWE, is reportedly facing an investigation from company officials after having an alleged affair with a former employee.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that 76-year-old McMahon allegedly paid a $3 million non-disclosure agreement to a female ex-employee following an affair.
The Wall Street Journal cites people close to the board as its source.
Per wrestling-based news website WrestlingInc., employees within WWE were reportedly sent a memo 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 WSJ adds that the $3 million NDA was signed back in January of this year. It is said to prevent the female employee - who was hired as a paralegal in 2019 - from disparaging McMahon or speaking about their alleged affair.
The WWE board was reportedly enlightened to the accusations after receiving a series of anonymous emails from a person claiming to be a friend of the 41-year-old former employee.
One email allegedly read: "My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry paid her millions of dollars to shut up."
The New York Post reports that "Jerry" could refer to Jerry McDevitt, McMahon’s personal attorney.
Another email - reportedly sent to board members on March 30 - allegedly claimed that the former employee was hired with a $100,000pa salary. This allegedly doubled after the relationship with McMahon started, per the WSJ.
As well as McMahon, the investigation has reportedly also uncovered older agreements in relation to claims of misconduct against WWE's head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
WWE has not responded to VT's opportunity to comment as of this writing.
However, a company spokesperson reportedly told the WSJ that the alleged relationship between McMahon and the paralegal was consensual. Additionally, McDevitt told the publication in a letter that the former employee had not accused the CEO of harassment and that "WWE did not pay any monies" to her upon her departure from the company.
The law firm Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP is reportedly assisting the WWE board with the investigation, per The Post.
As reported by The Sun, the news comes almost one month after McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon Levesque, took an indefinite "leave of absence" from the majority of her roles within the company, citing "family reasons" for her decision.
Vince McMahon is currently married to Linda McMahon, who once served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump and who has also appeared alongside her family on WWE programming.
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