IS THE FIVE-DECADE career of Vincent Kennedy McMahon reaching its end? Following a June 15 Wall Street Journal story that McMahon had paid a 41-year-old female employee approximately $3-million to remain silent about a physical relationship between the two, McMahon stepped down as WWE Chairman and CEO to allow the company’s board of directors to investigate the matter.
While all initial reports suggested the relationship was consensual, the more pressing question was whether McMahon has fostered a culture of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Wall Street Journal stated the female employee had signed a nondisclosure agreement, and there were additional NDAs involving McMahon, more women, and Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. Bruce Prichard has since replaced Laurinaitis in that position, at least temporarily.
Another story ran in the July 8 edition of WSJ, reporting that McMahon had paid a total of $12-million to four women over the past 16 years, including a former talent. One anonymous woman alleged that she was coerced into a sex act with McMahon, then demoted, and ultimately released after resisting further advances.
Is all of this enough to force McMahon out of power in WWE? The initial conventional wisdom was the intimidatory effect of the NDAs—as well as McMahon’s controlling interest in WWE—would prevent his ouster. But, as the revelations
