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.
Leonardi found himself in a similar position in 2005 when superiors demoted him for voicing concerns about a 2005 segment in which the character Muhammad Hassan (played by Marc Copani), who was developed to exploit rampant Islamophobia after 9/11 era, staged a terrorist attack on the Undertaker days after the London bombings. The segment was fiercely condemned by viewers, forcing Hassan off television and destroying Copani’s wrestling career.
Female writers within WWE allege their own indignities, including unwanted and unnecessary touching and criticism of female wrestlers’ bodies and appearances that went outside the bounds of acceptability. “On the one hand, this is the product in the story, but on the other hand, I feel like we’re not talking about the story anymore, “the writer told Rolling Stone.” The undertones are dangerous, and what they wanted in their environment scared me.”
Women describe a “boys club” at WWE. After enough female writers complained, HR held a “women’s forum” for affected staffers to air grievances. Afterward, leadership told them at an in-person meeting that they “were acting like middle schoolers” and were told not to go to HR in the future.
This culture was the influence of McMahon, the writers say, who had strict codes of conduct, including no sneezing around the boss (who sees sneezing as a sign of weakness), pushing chairs into the table after getting up, and having a formal dress code that includes keeping shoes shined. Ultimately, the writers saw this as part of McMahon’s sadism, believing “he enjoyed the manipulation.” As many wrestling fans know, whatever was discussed in the writers’ room would be mostly thrown out by the first bell, leaving McMahon to rewrite from scratch, to the dismay of the talent and fans.
“By the time Monday rolled around, and we were all in the production meeting, something else was gonna happen,” one former writer told Rolling Stone. “It almost felt like a joke, like we were just there to satisfy Vince’s whims. We were all Vince McMahon transcribers.”
