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A former wrestler claims the claims of WWE’s first female referee – who accused the organization’s former CEO Vince McMahon of raping her in 1986 – are true.
Leonard Inzitari, the ex-wrestler whose in-ring name was Mario Mancini, claimed that Rita Chatterton’s claims were true. He made the claim to journalist Abe Riesman in a story published by New York Magazine on Monday. Riesman is writing a book about McMahon called Ringmaster, due out in March 2023.
It’s the first time a wrestler has confirmed Chatterton’s allegation.
Chatterton first came forward with the allegation in 1992, claiming that McMahon raped her in his limousine in 1986. However, Chatterton declined to press charges, and according to Riesman’s story, the statute of limitations for rape had expired by that time.
Inzitari claimed in the New York Magazine story that Chatterton confided in him in 1986 what allegedly happened. Before a WWF show (WWE was then known as the World Wrestling Federation), Chatterton “broke down in tears,” he claimed, in front of Inzitari.
Inzitari claimed Chatterton told him McMahon “got his penis out” and “put my head down there.” McMahon “then pulled me onto him,” forced her jeans off, and then “was inside her,” Inzitari said that Chatterton told him.
WWE did not respond to a request for comment from Insider on behalf of the company or McMahon. McMahon’s attorney, Jerry McDevitt, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on McMahon’s behalf. Inzitari declined to comment further to Insiders.
“He was willing to take the case, but he knew it was going to be an uphill battle,” Chatterton told Riesman, referring to an attorney she contacted after the alleged encounter with McMahon. “It came out that it was my word against the McMahons because I showered and didn’t go to the hospital … I was scared. He was powerful. He would be over me.”
Chatterton made her claim public on The Geraldo Rivera Show. The WWF did not comment on the allegation at the time, but according to Riesman, McMahon called the allegation false in a lawsuit after the interview.
McMahon and his wife Linda sued Chatterton, Rivera and members of Rivera’s production team after the interview, alleging that the defendants were part of a conspiracy to inflict “severe emotional distress” on the McMahons by “fabricating a false allegation.” rape.” According to Riesman, the lawsuit was eventually dropped.
Meanwhile, McMahon recently voluntarily resigned from his role as Chief Executive and Chairman of WWE amid a special committee of the company’s Board of Directors investigating separate allegations of misconduct against him and the company’s Head of Talent Relations.
“I have pledged my full cooperation with the Special Committee’s investigation and I will do everything I can to assist the investigation,” McMahon said in a statement released by WWE. “I have also pledged to accept the findings and findings of the investigation, whatever they may be.”
McMahon continues to oversee the company’s creative content. His daughter and WWE Brand Executive Stephanie McMahon stepped in as interim CEO and Chair.
The Wall Street Journal first reported earlier this month that the WWE board of directors was investigating the payments McMahon made to former female employees, some of whom had accused McMahon and the head of talent relations of misconduct. The payments prevented them from commenting on the arrangements, The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.
The probe began in April after the board received a tip about a $3 million payment to a former paralegal with whom McMahon was allegedly having an affair, The Journal reported.
A WWE spokesman told The Journal that McMahon’s relationship with the former paralegal was amicable. McDevitt, his attorney, told the Journal the paralegal did not allege harassment against McMahon and that “WWE did not pay her any monies.”
