USA Today Calls on WWE to ‘Cover for Vince McMahon’, Urges Talent NDAs to be Lifted

ICYMI: Nancy Armor writes: “WWE can continue to cover for Vince McMahon or it can do the right thing” in new USA Today Column

“If WWE and parent company Endeavor Group Holdings are as committed to eradicating a toxic, misogynistic culture as they claim, they should have no objection to waiving the NDAs.”

Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, USA Today’s Nancy Armor has written a column about the need for WWE and its parent company Endeavor Group Holdings to release all former and current employees from their NDAs. This comes as Ann Callis, the attorney for Janel Grant – the former WWE employee who is suing McMahon for sexual assault and human trafficking – sent a letter to WWE and Endeavor making the same demand, claiming that NDAs silence potential survivors and witnesses of sexual assault and human trafficking . human trafficking.

In her column, Armor explains how the NDAs used at WWE only harm former and current employees, writing: “These NDAs are often tied to financial settlements and are designed to silence people, including those who have been victims of abuse as those who witnessed it. That is problematic enough because it covers those who have been wronged with a veil of secrecy and shame. Worse still, these NDAs allow the people who cause the harm, and those who enabled them, to avoid responsibility.”

Armor sends a clear message to WWE and Endeavor in her piece: “If Snyder, Cosby and Weinstein are the company you work in, this is a sign – a flashing neon sign – that you may want to reconsider your actions. At least, if you really want to change the culture of your company and ensure that it is no longer a breeding ground for abuse.”

If you would like to interview Ms. Grant’s team, please contact (email protected). The text of the full column is pasted below.

Opinion: WWE can continue to cover Vince McMahon, or it can do the right thing

Lawyer for woman who said she was trafficked and abused by Vince McMahon wants WWE to release other employees from non-disclosure agreements

By Nancy Armor

The only people who are afraid of the truth are those who have something to hide.

That may seem obvious. But it’s worth remembering as the attorney for the woman who said she was trafficked and abused by Vince McMahon is asking World Wrestling Entertainment to release current and former employees from non-disclosure agreements.

If WWE and parent company Endeavor Group Holdings are as committed to eradicating a toxic, misogynistic culture as they claim, they should have no objection to opting out of the NDAs. They must want all the misdeeds and humiliations committed by McMahon and his followers to be exposed so that there can be no confusion about what the company stands for and what it will and will not tolerate in the future.

If they don’t, the obvious question is why not.

“If they have nothing to hide, they have to prove it,” Ann E. Callis, Janel Grant’s attorney, who detailed years of exploitation and degradation in a lawsuit against McMahon in January, told USA TODAY Sports.

NDAs are intended to allow companies to protect private information. Trade secrets. Business practices. Financial information. Customer lists. It is reasonable to understand why a company would not want these matters disclosed and why employees are asked to promise not to do so.

But the NDAs that Callis is referring to, the NDAs that the WWE under McMahon’s leadership appears to have taken liberal advantage of, only serve to cause harm.

Often tied to financial settlements, these NDAs are intended to silence people, both those who suffered abuse and those who witnessed it. That is problematic enough because it covers those who have been wronged with a veil of secrecy and shame. Worse still, these NDAs allow the people who cause the harm, and those who enabled them, to avoid responsibility.

If no one knows that the boss is a sexual predator, because those who do are legally prohibited from saying anything, he can continue to prey on other employees. If no one is allowed to talk about a hostile work environment, there will be no incentive to change it.

“The toxic and sexualized culture at WWE during Mr. McMahon’s tenure as CEO and Chairman was overt and infamous. But what has been publicly reported is only part of the picture,” Callis wrote in a letter sent Monday to attorneys and executives from WWE and Endeavor.

“We have had witnesses come to us and confidentially describe a sexualized culture at WWE that victimizes women and men. We have received reports that many victims are currently afraid to come forward due to punitive non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements,” Callis continued. “…Survivors are victimized every time they are muzzled and forced to live in fear of attack from a multi-billion dollar corporation that can hire an army of lawyers to bury them in legal fees if they tell the truth.”

Companies might say that these NDAs protect people who have been abused, keep the world from learning embarrassing details about their lives, and shield them from criticism. But that’s a convenient excuse. They’re a way for companies to sweep their dirty little secrets under the rug so no one else finds out.

Daniel Snyder used them when he owned the Washington Commanders to destroy details of the abuse he both condoned and committed. USA Gymnastics forced McKayla Maroney to sign one after she admitted to being sexually assaulted by former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Serial predators Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Bill O’Reilly used NDAs so often that they led to the rarest of all: a bipartisan deal in Congress. The Speak Out Act, which came into effect in December 2022, prohibits the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses regarding sexual assault or sexual harassment.

When Snyder, Cosby and Weinstein are the company you work in, it’s a sign – a flashing neon sign – that you might want to reconsider your actions.

If you really want to change the culture of your company and ensure that it is no longer a breeding ground for abuse.

Grant’s NDA with WWE may not be enforceable because her lawsuit wasn’t filed until January, more than a year after Speak Out became law. But there are an untold number of other WWE employees whose NDAs predate Speak Out, and they need to be heard as well.

It will undoubtedly be embarrassing for WWE if any more tawdry stories come out. However, until there is a full accounting of all the injustices McMahon has committed and all the people he has harmed, there will always be something else, some other secret that will certainly cause damage when it is finally spilled.

Honesty isn’t just the best path forward for WWE. It’s the only way.

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