More light shed on Vince McMahon’s work culture in WWE during his time.
After reports of sexual assault and sex trafficking emerged in January 2024, Vince McMahon retired from his position as the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, a merger between WWE and UFC. With the investigation still ongoing, other reports from his time at the company have emerged.
Recently, in an interview with Rolling Stone, former WWE writer Michael Leonardi provided major insights into McMahon’s reign of terror during his tenure. The Stamford-based promotion fired Leonardi in 2016, and he recently revealed an incident that took place one week before his departure.
After making a last-minute creative change, which both he and the other wrestlers thought was racially insensitive, McMahon decided to chide him.
He turned to me and he said, ‘So you didn’t give me what I wanted? I said, ‘I understand, I’m sorry. We all went over it and felt good about it, we just made the small tweak.’ And then he started just yelling at me. It was such an intense moment. I walked out with my tail between my legs.”
Leonardi’s issue took place in 2016 in a segment involving R-Truth, Titus O’Neil, Mark Henry, and Neville. In a LinkedIn video from February, Leonardi explained the scenario:
The script called for Neville to speak up and tell everyone else that he’s ‘got a dream too, and that dream is to win the Royal Rumble.”
In reference to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 civil rights speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Neville was required to deliver the promo. However, the British wrestler complained about being uncomfortable with it. The promo was later delivered by R-Truth. However, all of this was denied by Vince McMahon’s spokesperson.
Six former writers decided to open up to Rolling Stone and share their side of the story. All of them chose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the wrestling promotion. One writer noted that fear rules the promotion and that it is a motivating factor there.
The six writers who spoke to the publication also shared how McMahon’s villainous television persona was not just limited to the screen but also continued backstage. He was infamous for belittling and berating others around him and creating a sense of fear. Leonardi further noted:
There was a very heavy layer of fear and tension and that was directly from Vince. And that culture that he created obviously created a lot of problems.”
McMahon’s staff was mainly divided into two sections: one that was loyal to him and the others who had come from other companies to work for him. The second group quickly realized the condition under the former chairman, and how it was different from anything they had ever seen.
Everybody was getting yelled at all the time in the room. It was more saying shit that was humiliating or mean [that was then] couched as a joke, but it’s a nasty joke. If you’re being targeted in the room, nobody stands up for you, but that’s because if they do, they will get the bullet in the head, too. You don’t stick your head up out of the foxhole for anybody, because nobody wants to take a bullet.”
Several other writers also complained about instances of racial insensitivity in the writing room. In 2023, former writer Britney Abrahams filed a lawsuit against the promotion, executives, and McMahon for being allegedly fired after standing up to racism in the writer’s room. The matter was later resolved amicably.
Vince McMahon also actively took part in the writers’ process of producing the show. Rolling Stone further reported about a strict dress policy in the company which required men to wear suits whereas women were required to wear skirts, dresses, or pantsuits. All staff also had to keep their shoes shined. The former writers also noted that they had to stand up when McMahon entered the room and could only sit after he had taken his seat.
A former writer shared how they had to pitch the storylines directly to McMahon when he was present in the room, and they always had to keep multiple versions of the scripts ready. However, those would often be changed, and later destroyed just before the show went on air, to assert his dominance.
It doesn’t really matter what he said in that creative room or if he loved it [at an earlier point], it was still going to get torn up before the show. By the time Monday rolled around and we were all in the production meeting, something else was gonna happen. It almost felt like a joke, like we were just there to satisfy Vince’s whims. We were all Vince McMahon transcribers.
I think Vince enjoyed the manipulation. He liked changing things. He liked keeping people on their toes. I genuinely felt like, this isn’t to benefit the show or the storyline, Vince really just enjoys making people squirm.”
They also shared how other writers with power in the room also posed a problem apart from McMahon and acted as “bullies”. The women writers faced a different kind of problem alongside this.
More Details On What The Former Women Writers Faced In WWE Under Vince McMahon
A former writer revealed to Rolling Stone, the kind of torment they had to endure under McMahon’s leadership when they heard a person of power tell a writer:
I wish your dad pulled out and came on your mom’s tits instead of having you.’”
The former writers compared these with “boys locker-room talk”, and how it was even tougher for the women there. They were often made to feel the gender difference by their male colleagues. Subjected to inappropriate comments and touches, the women experienced them all.
They would touch me where they would have me come closer [to them]. They would pull me by my waist to come somewhere or move closer to them. I’m just super aware that it’s kind of close to my butt and most people don’t touch me by the waist ever. I thought, ‘This is strange.’”
Unfortunately, taking the complaints to HR did not help either. Despite relaying their complaints in Zoom meetings in 2020, they were never taken seriously and were often dismissed. The HR team also never took the writers’ mental health seriously, as once the required department did not take a writer’s anxiety issue seriously. The male writers often spoke about women, including the female writers, as objects.
However, Leonardi also noted that during Vince McMahon’s absence, creativity would flow in the room as people became more open.
When Vince wasn’t there, it was amazing to see how things opened up. People start talking, the creativity [flows]. It’s just so clear how much his influence and the way he ran things would actually stifle the process.”
Despite the current power shift in the promotion, the former six writers still believe there is a lot to improve. While some former writers praised Triple H as a ‘great leader’, and how the work culture has improved under him, others remained doubtful.
WWE has experienced a long-standing culture of working under fear, and it is not something to vanish within a fortnight. The former writers believe it to be a long process, and they doubt there will be any major shifts in the overall culture at WWE.
In other news: A prominent journalist recently compared Vince McMahon to Hannibal Lecter.