He turned to me and he said, So you didnt give me what I wanted?
I said, I understand, Im sorry.
We all went over it and felt good about it, we just made the small tweak.
WWE then-chairman Vince McMahon during a ‘Monday Night RAW’ show in Las Vegas in 2009.Ethan Miller/Getty Images
And then he started just yelling at me.
It was such an intense moment.
I walked out with my tail between my legs.
WWE is a kingdom ruled by fear, one former writer tellsRolling Stone.
It is the motivating factor everywhere: fear.
(Neither McMahon nor the WWE responded to requests for comment on these incidents.)
All the while, as described in the new Netflix docuseriesMr.
He is currently under federal investigation in connection with Grants claims.
In 2002, he instituted what he called the organizations Ruthless Aggression era.
But the writers who spoke withRolling Stonesay McMahons intimidating behavior was not just for show.
And that culture that he created obviously created a lot of problems.
Everybody was getting yelled at all the time in the room, one former writer says.
LEONARDI WAS ORIGINALLY hired to work at the WWE as an associate producer in 2001.
The episode aired as planned on the 7th, with a parental advisory.
Still,many viewersfound it offensive.
A decade later, Leonardi reconsidered his stance on the company when he saw a writing position open up.
But not long after, he says, another troubling storyline arose.
Leonardi says his boss at the time, Dave Kapoor, approved the change.
(Kapoor could not be reached for comment.
Neville and R-Truth did not respond to requests for comment.)
A spokesperson for McMahon denied Leonardis account in a statement.
It simply didnt happen.
This wasnt the only alleged instance of racial insensitivity in the WWE writers room.
There were also unconventional rules, including a formal dress code.
Vince never told people to stand up when he entered the room.
Most unorthodox of all was McMahons direct say in the final scripts, the writers say.
They would sometimes produce multiple versions of scripts.
It almost felt like a joke, like we were just there to satisfy Vinces whims.
We were all Vince McMahon transcribers.
He liked changing things.
He liked keeping people on their toes.
One former writer says they would often wait for hours, and you wouldnt know why you were waiting.
It wasnt just McMahon who was the problem, the former writers say.
They didnt know what it was like working on a regular television show.
This was, like, good old boys locker-room talk, the former writer says.
The jockeying for favor with McMahon turned people against each other, the former writers say.
I couldnt understand what the hell was going on because nobody made eye contact, nobody talked to you.
It was so odd, another former writer says.
Thats what the room is like with a bad leader.WOMEN IN THE WWE writers room faced specific challenges.
They would touch me where they would have me come closer [to them], she claims.
They would pull me by my waist to come somewhere or move closer to them.
I thought, This is strange.
Two former writers tellRolling Stonethey took their complaints to human resources.
One was subsequently fired from her position, a decision she interpreted as retaliation.
Another woman who attended the meeting says the leadership staffers there were dismissive of the womens claims.
They did it just to appease us, but they didnt take it seriously at all, she says.
He enabled Vince with everything that he did.
They say they were allegedly driven to having crippling panic attacks because of the job.
When I spoke to HR, I said, I have anxiety.
I cant handle this.
This is going to kill me, the writer says.
The undertones are dangerous, and what they wanted in their environment scared me.
I felt like theres no way I could be in this boys club, she says.
People start talking, the creativity [flows].
Its just so clear how much his influence and the way he ran things would actually stifle the process.
I never saw anything crazy like that, one former writer says.
Another former writer says they werent shocked, but it doesnt mean that I still wasnt sickened by it.
Theres more than one side to McMahon, Leonardi points out.
Multiple truths are present here.
But theres the other side [of him].
(Gerwitz could not be reached for comment on this story.)
There are a lot of people complicit in continuing this culture, one former writer says.
I am highly doubtful its changed, even with Triple H in charge.
I just dont think it really can.
