Following an article that caught the attention of people far beyond those typically tuned into pro wrestling, the Wall Street Journal has published a second story alleging Vince McMahon paid millions more than originally thought to cover up sexual misconduct claims from multiple women.
The more detailed claims involve four women paid a total of $12 million over 16 years, and paint a picture of continued sexual coercion and intimidation by McMahon. All of the former WWE employees involved are said to have signed non-disclosure agreements as part of their payouts, included among documents reviewed by the WSJ reporters.
McMahon stepped aside as CEO and chairman of WWE in the wake of the initial June 15 article, ceding day-to-day control of the company to daughter Stephanie as the company’s board continues an investigation into the claims. But he has remained in creative control of WWE programming and even made a series of on-screen appearances since the first story broke — though they’ve been brief and didn’t address the controversy in any way.
Those live TV segments gave an unmistakable impression that McMahon wanted the world to know it was business as usual, which apparently was part of the point (as well as a possible ratings ploy). Fightful Select reports that after McMahon appeared on the June 17 episode of SmackDown, he walked backstage and “shouted ‘F–k em!’ seemingly in response to the allegations that caused his insistence to appear on television.”
The allegations haven’t hurt WWE in the most obvious way so far: it’s stock price. The company’s shares actually finished a few dollars higher when the market closed Thursday than they did on the day of the first WSJ report. And WWE makes no bones about the fact that it is inextricably tied to McMahon, with the Journal noting that in regulatory filings, it says that “losing Mr. McMahon would put its entire business at risk.”
All of those factors suggest continued defiance on the part of the man who has been synonymous with sports entertainment for decades. But with today’s additional allegations, it’s fair to wonder if there’s a point at which the dam will burst.