Former WWE writers allege hostile, abusive workplace under Vince McMahon
Six former WWE staffers paint a hostile picture of working under McMahon, calling him the leader of a "kingdom ruled by fear."
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Six former WWE writers have accused their old boss and workplace of fostering a hostile workplace built on fear, abuse, and sexism. In a new report from Rolling Stone, the former writers paint a toxic picture of WWE’s internal culture, one that’s “ruled by fear,” trickling downward from disgraced former CEO Vince McMahon.
McMahon is currently under federal investigation in connection to a lawsuit accusing McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking. After the bombshell filing from Janel Grant, who accused McMahon of pressuring her with sex in exchange for a job and job opportunities, McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO, the conglomerate that owns WWE and UFC. McMahon denied the allegations through his legal representatives.
One writer, Michael Leonardi, told Rolling Stone he began at WWE in 2002 and was fired in 2016. Leonardi claims he wanted to tone down the overt racism of Vince McMahon’s scripted segments. In one instance, Leonardi made a “small tweak” and cut a line in which a white British character said, “I’ve got a dream too, and that dream is to win the Royal Rumble” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2016.