Former WWE star and producer Lance Storm discussed the Vince McMahon allegations and why it is problematic for Vince to claim (through Jerry McDevitt) that his connection with his ex-paralegal was consensual during a recent episode of F4WOnline.com’s Figure Four Daily.
“You know the thing that surprised me the most. And it’s the one thing that nobody else seems to have talked about. I’m dumbfounded that this was so recent. Like, this isn’t like a 1994 thing that it just came to light. Wasn’t it like 2019 when she was transferred to Johnny Ace’s department? When Me Too hit however many years ago…and so many people were coming forward and saying things and there was a lot of people in the business that were wondering how hard the wrestling business would be hit there were a lot of people in the wrestling business that were hit.” Storm added, “How did you not learn from that? That this conduct is not acceptable, highly dangerous, and completely inappropriate.” Storm said.
Vince has found that NDAs are effective, according to Bryan Alvarez, because he has never had to deal with consequences.
Storm added, “I think it was [Jerry] McDivitt where he said the relationship was consensual. And I’m sorry, it’s not. And this is the whole thing that came with the Harvey Weinstein and all the other stuff that men in power can’t/shouldn’t be dating or asking out subordinates. Here’s this woman who gets a job for $100,000. And it’s like, maybe it’s the best job she’s had or the highest paying job or again, if you’re living in Connecticut, New York, maybe it’s just enough to make her damn rent. And even if she [thinks] ‘man Vince is cute, I wouldn’t mind going out to dinner with him’ and he asked her for dinner it’s like as that person in power above your subordinate even asking her out for dinner is putting her in a position where she goes, ‘I should probably say, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to make him mad and get heat with the boss and risk my job.’ Even if Vince is completely going to be noble in this…she doesn’t know that. And it’s why writers shouldn’t date talent. People in creative shouldn’t date talent. Producers shouldn’t date talent, trainers shouldn’t date talent. And again, trainers dating talent was a big thing in the Me Too with a lot of the schools in the UK. Because you’re concerned that, well, if I make this person happy, my job will be safer. And it just puts the person in a position where they’re having to make decisions they shouldn’t have to make.”
“Even if there was zero misappropriation of funds. If whatever she was being paid, she warranted. If he paid her $3 million own money to be quiet afterward, it’s like, again, it’s his money, but it gets back. Back from “Me Too” [onwards], I’ve talked to a lot of women. It is unfair, in a work setting, to have a person that has to say yes, or no to a personal relationship with their boss, because you don’t know whether your answer will be held against you. Or, again, there’s occasions where a subordinate might try to sleep with a boss to get a favorable job review. And it’s like, a boss can’t allow that to happen, either. Because it creates just this huge issue in the company. If she was the one that initiated because she was hoping to get a raise and decided to it’s like, if Vince agrees, then everyone else in the office is now like, ‘oh, that’s how you get a raise.’ And then they have to make a decision that they shouldn’t have to be making. And, you know, it’s why in the military you’re not allowed to date someone who ranks above you, because it creates a conflict of interest. And it puts additional pressure. And again, I don’t know about the US military, but the Canadian military is f**king waist deep [with] sexual harassment and abuse cases, and look at the American gymnastics with coaches and trainers abusing people because your career is in their hands. And it’s like, I would have thought and I would have hoped that especially after Me Too…that we would start to learn that we can’t cross these lines, and they need to be hard lines. There needs to be a f**king wall that you don’t have the relationship with your secretary. Me, as an example, when I was in OVW, as a coach, it’s like, I can’t be dating the women I’m training because I’m the one that sends in the review and recommends whether they get a job or not. And again, thankfully, I’m married and was a decade too old for all of them anyway, but it’s like there’s a reason those things can’t happen. And it makes me sad that they’re still going on.”
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
