WWE chairman was accused of raping the woman nearly 40 years ago

Vince McMahon, who returned to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as executive chairman earlier this month, has agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement with a former referee who accused him of raping her nearly 40 years ago.

Rita Chatterton, the first woman referee in WWE history, demanded $11.75 million in damages for the alleged rape in 1986, according to a November letter sent to McMahon’s attorney, the Wall Street Journal reported.

As part of the settlement completed in December, Chatterton agreed to a lesser amount in the millions of dollars, which will be paid in a lump sum up front and annual installments thereafter, WSJ reported.

“Mr. McMahon denies and always has denied raping Ms. Chatterton. And he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation,” Jerry McDevitt, a lawyer for McMahon, told WSJ.

In 1992, Chatterton alleged that McMahon had told her she needed to satisfy him to obtain a $500,000 contract with his company, and then proceeded to rape her in the back of a limousine in New York. In a 1993 lawsuit, McMahon argued that Chatterton made the false claim at the urging of a professional wrestler with a vendetta against the WWE kingpin. In 1994, McMahon withdrew the lawsuit to focus on another legal battle, as the United States government sued McMahon on suspicion of supplying illegal steroids to wrestlers in his company.

McMahon was ultimately acquitted of those charges.

Vince had...

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