A Netflix docuseries has explored a number of sexual abuse allegations going back decades facing WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.
Across six episodes, Mr McMahon dives into the life and career of the 79-year-old businessman, media mogul and wrestling executive, featuring several big names from the wrestling world.
In the eighties, Mr McMahon and his wife Linda transformed what was once his father’s company – then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation – into World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which went on to become the world’s largest wrestling corporation.
He made headlines in 2022 when it was reported that WWE’s board of directors found that McMahon had made hush money payments of more than $12 million to four women, forcing Mr McMahon to retire from his position as chief executive later that year.
Mr McMahon has denied all the allegations and his full statement has been printed below.
When WWE merged with a martial arts promotion company in 2023, Mr McMahon served as the executive chairman of the merger until further allegations forced him to resign at the beginning of this year.
But what are the accusations in the documentary that Mr McMahon is facing?
Hush money payments
In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that WWE’s board of directors were investigating Mr McMahon after it was alleged that he paid a secret $3 million settlement to a then-departing WWE employee who he was suspected of having had an affair with.
After a tip-off via a series of anonymous emails, the board found that the woman – a paralegal called Janel Grant hired in 2019 – was paid and made to sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from speaking about the affair publicly.
A short time later, it was found that Mr McMahon had made paid more than $12 million to four women to cover up his sexual misconduct and extramarital affairs.
The settlements included a $7.5 million payment to a former wrestler in 2018, who alleged that Mr McMahon “coerced her into giving him oral sex and then demoted her and, ultimately, declined to renew her contract in 2005 after she resisted further sexual encounters”, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Further payments included $1 million to a former manager Mr McMahon initiated a sexual relationship with in the Noughties and $1 million to a WWE contractor, who accused Mr McMahon of sexual harassment and sending her unsolicited nude photographs.
Janel Grant: sex trafficking lawsuit
The docu-series looks at the lawsuit brought against Mr McMahon by Janel Grant. Filed in January 2024, the former WWE employee claimed that she was subjected to “emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking” during her time at WWE at the hands of Mr McMahon, who lived in the same block of apartments as Grant and befriended her after the death of her parents.
Grant claims that in 2021, Mr McMahon and retired wrestler and WWE’s former head of talent relations, John Laurinaitis “sexually assaulted Ms Grant inside Laurinaitis’ office in WWE headquarters while colleagues were busy at their desks”. The lawsuit alleges that behind a locked door, “the two men cornered her and pulled her in between them, forcibly touched her, before ultimately putting her on top of a table between them”. Grant says she begged them to stop, but that the men “forced themselves onto her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying: ‘No means yes’ and: ‘Take it, b*tch’.”
She also claims that Mr McMahon forcibly used sex toys on her, shared sexually explicit photographs of her with others and directed her to have sex with other WWE employees, executives and stars. The impact of the abuse led to Grant “experiencing increasingly severe, physical, mental and emotional symptoms, including sleep disruption, dizziness, exhaustion, rashes, weight loss, hair loss and migraines”.
After pressure from Mr McMahon, Grant claims to have signed an NDA – which included a payment of $3 million – in 2022 to keep her quiet about the experiences. She says Mr McMahon violated the terms of the agreement, ceasing payments after the first $1 million payout.
The lawsuit came shortly after it was announced that WWE would merge with martial arts promotion company UFC to create TKO Group Holdings, where Mr McMahon would serve as executive chairman. He stepped down from the position after the lawsuit was filed.
“This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth,” a spokesman for Mr McMahon said. “He will vigorously defend himself.”
Rita Chatterton and Ashley Massaro
Accusations against Mr McMahon date back far earlier than the Noughties. As WWE’s first female referee, Rita Chatterton worked at the company between 1984 and 1986. In 1992, she claimed on a television show that Mr McMahon raped her in the back of his limousine after instructing her that, to obtain a contract worth $500,000, she needed to sexually satisfy him.
Over 30 years later, Chatterton wrote to Mr McMahon through her lawyers demanding an £11.75 million payment for damages. They eventually settled for an lesser amount, with Mr McMahon’s lawyer saying in a statement: “Mr McMahon denies and always has denied raping Ms Chatterton. And he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation.”
Wrestler Ashley Massaro appeared on WWE in the late Noughties and claimed in an unpublished statement before her death in 2019 that Mr McMahon preyed on female wrestlers. Published by Vice earlier this year, in the statement Ms Massaro alleged that after rejecting Mr McMahon’s advances herself, he worked to tarnish her reputation. “Immediately after that night, Vince started writing my promos for me. Vince does not write promos for female wrestlers – that is the job of the creative department,” she said. “But he did, and the promos were written with the clear intention of ruining my career.”
How has Vince McMahon responded?
Mr McMahon participated in the docu-series before his resignation from TKO Group Holdings,and responded to its release on X on September 23: “I don’t regret participating in this Netflix documentary. The producers had an opportunity to tell an objective story about my life and the incredible business I built, which were equally filled with excitement, drama, fun, and a fair amount of controversy and life lessons,” the statement reads.
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) September 23, 2024
“Unfortunately, based on an early partial cut I’ve seen, this doc falls short and takes the predictable path of conflating the ‘Mr. McMahon’ character with my true self, Vince.”
“A lot has been represented or left out entirely in an effort to leave viewers intentionally confused. The producers use typical editing tricks with out of context footage and dated soundbites etc. to distort the viewers’ perception and support a deceptive narrative.”
“In an attempt to further their misleading account, the producers use a lawsuit based on an affair I ended as evidence that I am, in fact, ‘Mr McMahon’. I hope the viewer will keep an open mind and remember that there are two sides to every story.”
