The WWE and its board of directors announced on Friday that CEO Vince McMahon is stepping down from the business side of the company while an investigation into an alleged hush-money payment to cover up sexual misbehaviour is performed.
After taking over for his father in 1982, when the firm was known as the World Wrestling Federation, McMahon has led the organisation for the past 40 years. During the inquiry, he’ll keep control of the WWE’s creative output, and the business has confirmed that he’ll appear on Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
“I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation. I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are” In a statement released by the corporation, McMahon stated.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the board is investigating into a $3 million compensation to a woman to cover up an alleged consensual affair between a WWE paralegal and McMahon, who has previously been accused of sexual misconduct.
According to the newspaper, the board’s inquiry discovered multiple more nondisclosure agreements negotiated in connection with sexual misconduct charges made by women who worked for WWE against McMahon and Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.
In his absence, Vince McMahon’s daughter Stephanie McMahon, a WWE official since 2006, will take over as CEO and chair of the board of directors.
In addition to looking into the charges against McMahon and Laurinaitis, the business announced it will employ an outside firm to look into its human resources department and its culture.
The McMahon family has been active in professional wrestling for almost a century, and Vince McMahon frequently casts himself and his offspring as villains in WWE storylines. With the demise of World Championship Wrestling in 2001, the corporation gained a near-monopoly in the industry.
The family has become billionaires as a result of this, and they’ve used some of their wealth to get involved in Republican politics, including Linda McMahon’s two failed Senate campaigns. Under former President Donald Trump, she went on to lead the Small Business Administration for two years.