Vince McMahon Will Reimburse WWE Board $17.4M For Its Sexual Misconduct Investigation

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Gerard Depardieu, who’s already indicted on rape and sexual assault charges in connection to a 2018 case, is now being accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women in an investigative report published by Mediapart. The accusations were made by female actors, make-up artists and production staff, some of whom spoke on the basis of anonymity, and allegedly occurred during the filming of 11 films released between 2004 and 2022. Mediapart said “one actress has just given her account to the French justice system.” None of these 13 women have taken legal action against Depardieu, according to a statement provided to Variety by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

WWE fans are unhappy about the recent news that Vince McMahon would be retaining some creative control behind the scenes of the brand.

Vince McMahon called Monday “a great day” as his iconic company announced plans to sell a controlling stake to Endeavor in a merger with mixed martial arts firm UFC. “Things have to evolve. A family business has to evolve, for all the right reasons. And this is the right business decision, and it’s the right family decision,” McMahon said in an interview today on CNBC.

Fans are divided over Vince McMahon’s makeover.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will merge into one company as part of a sale to Endeavor Group Holdings. The new operation will be valued at $21.4 billion thanks to the UFC's $12.1 billion valuation and WWE's $9.3 billion. WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon will join the new "global live sports and entertainment company" in the same role.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter In a storyline worthy of the finest pro wrestling angles, the McMahon family’s nearly complete control of WWE is coming to an end after seven decades. That is not to say there will no one within the McMahon family at the helm of the sports entertainment juggernaut. With the announcement that Endeavor Group is purchasing WWE and combining it into a new company with the UFC, it was revealed that Vince McMahon will be executive chairman of the board of the new entity. In addition, Paul Levesque — known to fans as Triple H and also McMahon’s son-in-law — will stay on as chief content officer, a role he assumed in September 2022. But no longer will the WWE be the family-run business that WWE and its predecessors have been since McMahon’s father and grandfather began promoting professional wrestling in New York in 1953. As such, it marks the end of an era for TV’s dominant pro wrestling franchise.

Two of the world’s biggest fighting organizations are coming together.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Endeavor is bringing together two of the world’s biggest combat-sports franchises — UFC and WWE — in a blockbuster merger announced Monday. It’s a deal in which “one plus one equals three,” said Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro, who will serve in the same role for the merged UFC-WWE. The pact, valuing the combined company at roughly $21.4 billion, is anticipated to close in the second half of 2023. The deal will result in an estimated $50 million to $100 million in annualized run-rate cost synergies, according to Endeavor, including by moving WWE to Endeavor’s back-office infrastructure. Shapiro said Endeavor, when it acquired UFC, realized $70 million in cost savings.

Endeavor Group Holdings and Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment have entered a definitive agreement to create a new $21.4 billion live sports and entertainment company consisting of UFC and WWE.The deal, which was unanimously approved by Endeavor and WWE’s boards of directors, values UFC at $12.1 billion and WWE at $9.3 billion. It is expected to close in the second half of 2023.Under the terms of the transaction, existing WWE shareholders will roll all existing equity into a new entity that will be the parent company of UFC and WWE (“NewCo” until it is named at a later date) and intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TKO”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Endeavor Group Holdings and World Wrestling Entertainment said Monday that they had signed a definitive agreement to form a new, publicly listed company consisting of two complementary, global sports and entertainment brands: UFC and WWE. The deal was reported to be close over the weekend by financial media CNBC and Bloomberg. Upon closing, Endeavor will hold a 51% controlling interest in the new company and existing WWE shareholders will hold a 49% interest. “Together, UFC and WWE will have global reach, impressive scale and omnichannel distribution,” Endeavor said in a statement.

WWE and UFC parent Endeavor Group Holdings made things official in an SEC filing Monday morning, confirming their blockbuster merger into a combat sports colossus.

J. Kim Murphy World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) is nearing a deal to be acquired by Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. Bloomberg was first to report on the ongoing acquisition deal. The report states that “no final decision has been made” and that negotiations could potentially fall through. The talks coincide as WrestleMania 39, one of the organization’s premier annual events, continues to unfold. The two-day pay-per-view and streaming extravaganza concludes Sunday evening, with more than 80,000 fans in attendance in Los Angeles. The WWE has been actively exploring an acquisition deal for some time now. Vince McMahon, the longtime public face and majority owner of the professional wrestling organization, returned to the company as executive chairman in January. McMahon had exited his WWE leadership role last year amid investigations into sexual misconduct allegations, leaving his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, to take on offices as chairman and co-CEO alongside Nick Khan, who previously served as the company’s president.

The WWE, which has been exploring a potential sale over the past few months, is in the process of being acquired by UFC parent Endeavor Group Holdings.

World Wrestling Entertainment has had plenty of dominant characters over the past 50 years, but Roman Reigns continues to set his own path.

The drama unfolding in the Mike Fleiss universe has enveloped Disney, which was in discussions with the creator of The Bachelor over a producing deal before the investigation over workplace misconduct allegations surfaced.

The Bachelor creator/executive producer Mike Fleiss’ recently announced departure from the hit ABC reality franchise came after he had been investigated over workplace misconduct allegations, Deadline has confirmed.

Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual assault. Along with the Safdie brothers, he produced one of the most-talked-about films in recent memory, Uncut Gems, as well as a slew of other indie cinema darlings. So, what did Sebastian Bear-McClard do that caused his own production company to terminate his contract in 2022?

Emily Ratajkowski’s estranged husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

, Emily Ratajkowski's estranged husband has been accused of behaving inappropriately towards multiple teenage girls.Both Bear-McClard and Ratajkowski declined to comment for 's story. ET has reached out to reps for the exes for comment.The allegations start in early 2016, when, according to statements made in an unspecified August 2022 legal dispute against Bear-McClard and later obtained by the outlet, Bear-McClard messaged a 17-year-old girl on Instagram.Not long after, Bear-McClard allegedly let Joshua and Benjamin Safdie, his producing partners who are known as the Safdie brothers, know that he wanted to cast the girl in their film, .When the teen was called for her scene, she was allegedly naked, standing in front of nearly a dozen male cast and crew members, and made to act with an actor who had recently been released from prison, according to . "[I] was utterly stunned and felt terrified," the girl said in her statement, obtained by .

A new exposé in Variety has revealed that Hollywood producer Sebastian Bear-McClard is the subject of allegations of sexual misconduct made by several different women.