Vince McMahon Ordered to Pay $1.7 Million by SEC Over Hush-Money Settlements – Rolling Stone
By
Daniel Kreps
The Securities Exchange Commission ordered Vince McMahon to pay $1.7 million after charging the former WWE CEO with failing to disclose two hush-money settlements to two women who formerly worked for the wrestling company.
McMahon must reimburse his former company $1.3 million and pay a $400,000 civil penalty stemming from the government’s investigation into the wrestling kingpin.
“Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies. There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading,” McMahon said in a statement on social media.
“In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me,” he added.
Word of potential Department of Justice charges against McMahon first arose in February 2024, following a sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit by a former WWE employee; a month after the lawsuit was filed, it was revealed that the Justice Department had been investigating McMahon since 2022 in connection to the settlements totaling $10.5 million.
“Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s control functions and auditor,” the SEC’s Thomas P. Smith Jr. said in a statement Friday after the charges against McMahon were announced.
In January 2024, Janel Grant, a woman who was hired in the specially made role of “administrator-coordinator” in WWE’s legal department, filed a lawsuit against McMahon, WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, and the wrestling company. Grant outlined years of alleged sexual assaults.
Among the allegations in the lawsuit is McMahon’s demands that Grant make herself sexually available to both himself and Laurinaitis, as well as unnamed “WWE Corporate Officers” and a “WWE Superstar.” Grant also accused McMahon of degrading her, and in one incident, said that he and Laurinaitis locked her in an office and raped her.
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Grant’s lawsuit was paused as the Justice Department investigated McMahon; with the SEC’s announcement Friday, a lawyer for Grant said in a statement to Rolling Stone that her client’s lawsuit can now resume.
“During his time leading WWE, Vince McMahon acted as if rules did not apply to him, and now we have confirmation that he repeatedly broke the law to cover up his horrifying behavior, including human trafficking,” Grant’s lawyer Ann Callis said.
“The SEC’s charges prove that the NDA Vince McMahon coerced Ms. Grant into signing violates the law, and therefore her case must be heard in court,” Callis continued. “While prosecutors for the Southern District of New York continue their criminal investigation, we look forward to bringing forward new evidence in our civil case about the sexual exploitation Ms. Grant endured at WWE by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis.”We want to hear it. Send us a tip using our anonymous form.Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.
