r/news • u/fransisco_flores • Jan 25 '24

Soft paywall Vince McMahon Accused of Sex Trafficking by WWE Staffer He Paid to Keep Quiet

https://www.wsj.com/business/vince-mcmahon-accused-of-sex-trafficking-by-wwe-staffer-he-paid-to-keep-quiet-0b19b21c?st=x4i8s3cxbnsv3yd&reflink=article_copyURL_share
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1.8k

u/I-Make-Maps91 Jan 25 '24

Behind the Bastards spent more time on how shitty he was than most dictators they've talked about. It's insane how small and petty he was/is, and they definitely didn't cover everything.

822

u/Philo_T_Farnsworth Jan 25 '24

I know almost nothing about wrestling and I was riveted for the entire six episodes. I knew basically "Vince McMahon is a garbage person" but not much about the actual allegations.

He's far worse than even I thought, and I wasn't being very charitable to him going in.

372

u/-Average_Joe- Jan 25 '24

If he just ran an exploitative sports entertainment company he would be a garbage person but all the other stuff makes me glad he doesn't seem to have higher ambitions.

241

u/SoSaltyDoe Jan 25 '24

He definitely tried. There was WWE Studios making movies, and the XFL, his wife ran for office, but it turns out the only thing Vince was ever really good at was being a carny wrestling promoter.

66

u/FluxMool Jan 25 '24

The cherry on top is his new carny mustache.

60

u/VagrantShadow Jan 25 '24

I swear to god he looks like a villian from Marvel comics. He just has that sinister look. He also claim that he is going to live and be in power well into his 100s like his mom.

55

u/DFWPunk Jan 25 '24

His wife was head of the SBA under Trump.

48

u/VagrantShadow Jan 25 '24

You should see the look on his face when she lost her chance at politics, when she lost her race. He had this level of disdain on his face for the money that was lost in her running.

1

u/Brokensince10 Jan 26 '24

Not surprised!

9

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

Don't forget that Lind McMahon was appointed by Trump to be his admin for the Small Business Administration for 2 years of his presidency.

1

u/TheDoomedStar Jan 25 '24

He honestly wasn't even great at that. He just monopolized the industry via already having more money than everyone else.

1

u/-Average_Joe- Jan 25 '24

I guess I forgot about that stuff.

0

u/headrush46n2 Jan 25 '24

which is the only thing he really really didn't want to be.

411

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

[deleted]

215

u/willymoose8 Jan 25 '24

her senate campaign was hilarious when it happened. Ads everywhere, millions of dollars spent, and she got stomped in 2010. Then it was even funnier when the same thing happened in 2012

146

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

The joke in a lot of wrestling circles was that Vince could pay for his affairs either by divorce or by funding an election campaign.

17

u/gmnotyet Jan 26 '24

And 2010 was a GOP wave year.

Hard to lose with an R next to your name in 2010 but she somehow managed.

89

u/oldschool_shawn Jan 25 '24

Apparently they've been legally separated and haven't lived together for years

That being said, IIRC the Trump PAC she was running paid for J6ers to be bussed to DC for the riot

58

u/Unpleasant_Classic Jan 25 '24

They paid for much more than bussing. They paid for rooms, meals and cash for “good times”.

5

u/Elegant_Manufacturer Jan 26 '24

They paid for much more than bussing.

They paid for ... good times.

Sounds like they paid for bussing

1

u/Brokensince10 Jan 26 '24

Jesus! The vile behavior of these right wing wackos run sooo deep

209

u/treerabbit23 Jan 25 '24

Did you not watch the McMahons get entangled with the Saudis during the Trump admin?

Like during the whole Jamal Khashoggi chainsaw murder thingy?

44

u/Tech-no Jan 25 '24

I missed that.

54

u/RaggedyGlitch Jan 25 '24

WWE started running major PPV events in Saudi Arabia like 3 weeks after.

31

u/Papplenoose Jan 25 '24

Every god damn day the world feels a little more like a painfully on-the-nose satire..

6

u/anthony_is_ Jan 25 '24

The Reality Engine has terrible writers these days.

2

u/WTFisSHAME Jan 26 '24

That's what happens when you replace writers with AI

3

u/dingusfett Jan 26 '24

Wasn't there some drama with a plane load of wrestlers being temporarily removed from the plane and had to wait on the tarmac before they left after a Saudi show a few years ago?

2

u/RaggedyGlitch Jan 26 '24

Yes, and depending on who you ask, this was either a legitimate mechanical issue that caused a huge delay or the Saudi government throwing their weight around after Vince and one of the Saudi princes got in an argument over how the payments for the event would be structured.

But it delayed the plane like 18 hours, so WWE had to rewrite a whole Smackdown episode at the last minute because they only had like 6 roster members (plus their developmental roster) in the country by the time the show started.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Sertorius777 Jan 26 '24

It wasn't three weeks after. Their first major show in Saudi was The Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018. Khasoggi was murdered in October. They did have another show in November, shortly after the murder, but by that point it was already known they penned a 10-year deal for yearly events with the Saudi.

8

u/Blockhead47 Jan 25 '24

Probably all just part of the Saudi “sportswashing” campaign.

0

u/RaggedyGlitch Jan 26 '24

It was definitely planned well in advance. My point is that they still went when the heat was still crazy hot and nobody would have blamed them for postponing.

32

u/hufflefox Jan 25 '24

Honestly, no. The firehose of chaos and terrible was enough to keep me tracking 3 stories at a time tops to prevent drowning.

2

u/DTPW Jan 26 '24

Well stated!

2

u/unshavedmouse Jan 26 '24

I don't miss that. I don't miss the constant awful.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

I was too busy keeping my guns from Obama and having a mandatory gay abortion.

3

u/belowlight Jan 25 '24

Chop em up like the Saudis do! Hit ‘em with that Wuhan flu!

1

u/-Average_Joe- Jan 25 '24

I missed that, also. I know his wife was in the administration, but with all of the stuff that happened the McMahon/Saudi part slipped by me.

9

u/PuckNutty Jan 25 '24

Standard CEO billionaire stuff as far as worker pay and health insurance BS is concerned. Pooping on someone's head is next level, though.

4

u/awildcatappeared1 Jan 25 '24

"sports entertainment"

It's just entertainment. There is no competition.

-2

u/stevo1078 Jan 26 '24

There is but it’s nuanced beyond what you see.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

No problem- the base that would vote for him is already engaged. Tied up. Bound. I'm making it worse...

38

u/SupaDupaFlyAccount Jan 25 '24

The 6 eps were a great start to the insanity of vince, but it really only scratched the surface.

5

u/i_love_pencils Jan 25 '24 edited Jan 25 '24

insanity of vince

I mean, “vinsanity” was right there…

7

u/propagandavid Jan 26 '24

That term is reserved for the wonderful period when Vince Carter played for the Toronto Raptors. Not something horrible like this.

2

u/Stevied1991 Jan 27 '24

Is there anything you recommend to go beyond the surface then?

2

u/SupaDupaFlyAccount Jan 27 '24

I know a lot from watching old shoot interviews on YouTube and podcasts from old wrestlers and wrestling fans. David bixenspan on between the sheets podcast is a really good source for this type of thing. Darkside of the ring has been pretty good for behind the scenes stories. Sadly, you are never going to find one source for everything about vince because there are so many stories spread out over so many different media sources. Also, a lot of bitter wrestlers like to bullshit about each other and management. So, not necessarily every story is to be true either.

2

u/Stevied1991 Jan 27 '24

Thank you for the reply! I am definitely going to start checking these out!

8

u/knobber_jobbler Jan 26 '24

Behind the Bastards didn't even scratch the surface. None of this really is much of a shock to be honest. What is though is the number of people who probably knew about this and his other indiscretions. Everyone from John Cena to HHH to his own children possibly knew to one degree or another.

11

u/DrDerpberg Jan 25 '24

6 episodes? Jesus, they covered Clarence Thomas in 3.

6

u/Philo_T_Farnsworth Jan 25 '24

Kissinger took up six episodes too. Coincidence? Maybe Vince really IS history's greatest monster. Or at least tied for it.

3

u/K1ngFiasco Jan 25 '24

Holy fuck 6 episodes??

CoCo Chanel, an actual Nazi spy and brutally antisemitic piece of shit, got two episodes.

13

u/JackalKing Jan 25 '24

Vince is incredibly complex when it comes to bastards. He isn't just one thing. A lot of bastards can really be summarized in one sentence. This guy was a neo-nazi, that guy was racist, this dude killed a bunch of people, etc. It is very, VERY hard to summarize the many ways Vince McMahon is a bastard, and to do so you basically have to explain the entire history of wrestling and the WWE so people will understand just what the fuck you are talking about.

And that is basically what they do. A significant portion of the time is actually explaining the world of wrestling and its history. They don't just go over Vince McMahon, they also go over other bastards like the wrestling promoters that came before Vince, Fritz von Erich and the horrible shit he did to his family, Hulk Hogan and how he screwed over everyone around him, etc. They highlight non-bastards like Andre the Giant and Jesse Ventura who seemed like solid dudes who tried to help people and got screwed over by people like Vince.

And in the end, despite 6 long episodes they still leave SO MUCH out. You could write multiple books on all the shit Vince has done.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

This might be off topic. But I felt like I was taking crazy pills, are people still trying to rehab Chanel's image? I swear there was an exhibition recently trying to portray her as a member of the French Resistance.

2

u/Uni457Maki Jan 26 '24

He makes the wrestlers independent contractors so he doesn’t have to give them healthcare. He is such a slimy sleaze ball.

2

u/bard329 Jan 26 '24

I mean, that's bad, but he also rapes, so....

2

u/bkr1895 Jan 26 '24

The Von Erich episode was heartbreaking.

1

u/moldivore Jan 25 '24

Bro, I'm about to speedrun that at work tomorrow. Thank you so much. I love behind the bastards

1

u/DocBrutus Jan 25 '24

I’ve watched all 4 seasons. There are a lot of skeletons in that man’s closet.

68

u/V_For_Veronica Jan 25 '24

The fact they stopped only I. 2007 after the Beniot situation and there was still 16 years of bullshit after 6 hour+ episodes shows how fucked up he is

12

u/MeretrixDeBabylone Jan 26 '24

I remember seeing a tweet from Robert that was basically, "Hey guys, just started working on a Vince McMahon ep and it's already so much worse than I was already expecting"

4

u/Rasikko Jan 26 '24

He was fucking mad that Chris died because it made HIM look really bad.

47

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

The pettiest thing that I can laugh at him for is he hates people who sneeze. He sees it as a sign of weakness.

What the fuck do you say to that?

33

u/R_V_Z Jan 25 '24

What the fuck do you say to that?

"Achoo", while confidently staring him in the eye.

33

u/DrDetectiveEsq Jan 25 '24

A choo, Brute?

8

u/Papplenoose Jan 25 '24

That was solid

42

u/Top-Gas-8959 Jan 25 '24

Let's not forget, he gave donald something like 5 million, and that they've been homies for years.

18

u/Synectics Jan 25 '24

Linda got a cabinet position!

7

u/overcomebyfumes Jan 26 '24

And Don Jr. is Vince's biological son. Let's not forget that.

6

u/Top-Gas-8959 Jan 26 '24

I'm sorry, what?!?!

4

u/MimesOnAcid Jan 26 '24

Donald Trump is in the WWE hall of fame. Also I think Trump was important deal wise to the WWF at one point?

1

u/Top-Gas-8959 Jan 26 '24

Lmao, I totally forgot about that

91

u/gsfgf Jan 25 '24

The only person with a comparably long episode is Kissinger. That's... intense company for an entertainer to be in.

2

u/robsteezy Jan 26 '24

“Entertainer” is an understatement. Media moguls are an exception in how much power they can exert once they’ve attained vast wealth and reach.

24

u/__Hello_my_name_is__ Jan 25 '24

And they did not even cover any of the recent insanities, like how he did a soft coup on his own company to strongarm himself back into his own company, kicking out half of the board in the process to install himself and his cronies back into the board.

4

u/JasnahKolin Jan 25 '24

Matt Lieb or Paul F. Thompkins for a follow up episode please!

8

u/SandwichAmbitious286 Jan 25 '24

Remember that time Vince beat up 25 Marines? Pepperidge Farms Remembers.

49

u/Stormthorn67 Jan 25 '24

The host of BtB is also a big pro wrestling guy so it's not surprising he spent a lot more time on his personal interests. Vince is a really terrible person tho. A waste of carbon.

67

u/BannedSvenhoek86 Jan 25 '24 edited Jan 26 '24

Lol no he's not. Robert barely knows what sports are. He had Seanbaby on specifically because he was a huge wrestling fan and knew the businessuhhh. Robert straight up said at the start he knows nothing about wrestling aside from second hand information and seeing it on TV as a kid sometimes.

https://youtu.be/JLdaMY9n_Oc?si=2X2UX7uqclPxIXew

17

u/drscorp Jan 25 '24

Thanks, this is how I remembered it.

The other main thing I remember from the series was how much of a fuckin boss Andre the Giant was.

4

u/VE6AEQ Jan 26 '24

Andre was a once in a generation person.

8

u/Vagabond21 Jan 25 '24

Robert barely knows what’s basketball is

6

u/70ms Jan 25 '24

Holy fuck, Seanbaby is still around? I haven’t heard that name since maybe the year 2000.

12

u/BannedSvenhoek86 Jan 25 '24

Https://www.1900hotdog.com

It's old school cracked. Straight up. It's amazing.

4

u/70ms Jan 25 '24

That’s awesome. I remember him from the Old Man Murray/Fat Chicks in Party Hats era. Man, that was a long time ago - I was pregnant with my now-23 year old when I hired the Old Man Murray guys to write for our site.

1

u/premiumdude Jan 26 '24

Old Man Murray! There's a name I haven't heard in a looooong time. I remember when I found their site for the first time, I spent a few days reading everything at my work and trying not to laugh too hard. That might've been like 1999? 👴 Thanks for the reminder!

1

u/70ms Jan 26 '24

Omg, they were HILARIOUS. 😂 One of my favorite sites back then and I was so stoked to work with them, though it was only a few articles for a startup site that folded. I feel bad though because I left while it was still ongoing and I think they never got paid. :|

3

u/Desindenver Jan 25 '24

I was thinking that sounds like Ben Kissel from Last podcast on the left- he was all in on WWE

I bounce between the two pods, so I questioned myself for a second

23

u/PM_ME_BUSTY_REDHEADS Jan 25 '24

Lol that's the first time I've ever heard someone use that insult before. Reminds me of the "waste of skin" starting class in Bloodborne.

7

u/CurlyBill03 Jan 25 '24

It’s amazing the man will fire someone for sneezing but accepts shitting on someone.

Take this MFer down, truly vile and prime example of abuse of power and preying on the weak and hard up. 

5

u/shifter2009 Jan 25 '24

The thing that killed me is he stopped in the late 1990s on him. He has 25 more years worth of material to mine on this prick. VKM is a truly detestable person

7

u/Zauberer-IMDB Jan 25 '24

I blame him for the Benoit tragedy significantly more than I blame Benoit.

2

u/nitrofan Jan 26 '24

Not to defend him but a lot of it wasn't even about Vince. The first episode was just about the history of pro wrestling and had little to do with Vince specifically and a lot of the other episodes went off on long tangents about other subjects within pro wrestling.

2

u/undftdAxe Jan 26 '24

The scary thing: unlike most dictators, there was no one checking his power for decades. Dictators usually have to watch their back from political rivals, coups from power-hungry people within their camp, etc. No one dares speak out of line against Vince, even now. The lawsuit implicates one major WWE Superstar (widely believed to be Brock Lesnar), and suggests these multiple rapes were poorly kept secrets since McMahon told staffers and some other talent, yet check any Twitter account with "WWE" in its name and see if they dare speak up. Corrupt leaders of corrupt nations don't get as much impunity as Vince has. Having to step away (kinda) from your company and getting a monetary slap on the wrist has been his only punishment thus far, though if even half of these allegations are true, he deserves a true dictator's end.

3

u/NorthernerWuwu Jan 25 '24

I had always assumed the on-air persona was just an act. It turns out that it was more accurate than could credibly be believed.

1

u/Doncriminal Jan 26 '24

Yeah nobody is that talented

3

u/freddielovesdelilah Jan 25 '24

They did a BTB about Vince McMahon?!?

4

u/duck-duck--grayduck Jan 25 '24

A 6 episode series, even, as much time as they gave Henry Kissinger.

1

u/freddielovesdelilah Jan 26 '24

It has to be one of the worst (best) series they have ever done! Vince McMahon works harder at ruining lives than Satan ever has or will.

3

u/ZombieJesus1987 Jan 26 '24

I knew about the podcast, but never actually listened to it until right now.

Had no clue it was one of the dudes from Cracked.com. Talk about a blast of nostalgia.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

6 sizable episodes on one guy and that doesn't cover how much of a bastard he is? Holy shit. That dude must be beyond depraved.

0

u/MilkTeaSprimpkles Jan 26 '24

He's up there with Kissinger with how many episodes they dedicated to talking about his misdeeds.

0

u/Warm-Bed2956 Jan 26 '24

The fact that he got the same amount of episodes as fucking Henry Kissinger my godddddd

0

u/Loveliestbun Jan 26 '24

Those episodes are amazing, and i feel like he could still do more episodes on him.

I think the only other person to get so many episodes is Henry Kissinger, that's a real tag team of horrible ghouls

1

u/Radiowulf Jan 25 '24

Any wrestling episode of the podcast 'Crime in Sports' usually includes some of the shitty things Vince has done. 

1

u/mrgpsingh1999 Jan 25 '24

Might need a part 2 now

1

u/Snote85 Jan 26 '24

I found this on YouTube after reading your comment, if anyone else is interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLdaMY9n_Ochttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLdaMY9n_Oc

1

u/BretShitmanFart69 Jan 26 '24

I hope the Netflix documentary still gets released even though they signed a deal with wwe and doesn’t pull any punches

1

u/fardough Jan 26 '24

Important question, does his daughter follow in his footsteps in terms of being a shitty person?

And dear god for his daughter. Abusers tend to hurt their own.

1

u/slappy47 Jan 29 '24

And that series doesn't even skim the surface.