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Vince McMahon (archive image, 2012)
Photo: Jessica Hill/AP
Vince McMahon, CEO and chairman of the wrestling organization WWE, has suspended his posts for the time being due to alleged hush money payments to a former lover.
McMahon's daughter Stephanie will take over her father's responsibilities on an interim basis.
This was announced by WWE on Friday.
It had previously been announced that the WWE Board of Directors would investigate the allegations against McMahon.
The wrestling boss had announced that he would cooperate "fully" with this investigation and accept its results.
However, McMahon wanted to withdraw from the front row until the end of the process.
The "Wall Street Journal" recently reported on a relationship that McMahon is said to have entered into in 2019 with a former employee.
The 76-year-old wrestling patriarch is accused, among other things, of initially doubling the annual salary of the woman employed as an assistant in the WWE legal department in return for the apparently consensual affair.
McMahon is said to have presented the woman with a hush-money contract that included a one-time payment of $1 million and an option for $2 million more.
Still responsible for the show
McMahons is not said to have been the only one involved in the case, WWE talent coordinator and ex-wrestler John Laurinaitis was also involved, it is said.
The men are accused of violating the company's self-imposed guidelines.
However, the announced retirement of the WWE boss is not complete: As the company announced, McMahon is still responsible for the creative content of the show fight network.
WWE also announced McMahon's appearance on the live show Smackdown.
McMahon acquired World Wrestling Entertainment, then known as the World Wrestling Federation, in 1982.
Under his leadership, the wrestling brand rose from a small niche phenomenon to global success and produced stars such as Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson, Steve Austin and John Cena.
McMahon admitted to having extramarital affairs in an interview with Playboy in 2001. Politically, the McMahon family had sought to be close to former Republican President Donald Trump in recent years.
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