Former WWE referee Rita Chatterton was interviewed for the first time in decades in New York Magazine by Abraham Riesman, the author of the upcoming unauthorized Vince McMahon autobiography.
Chatterton did not want to go into details on what allegdly happened in 1986 in a limousine but her story was corroborated by ex-wrestler Mario Mancini (real name Leonard Inzitari). He is the first person to speak on record about the allegation and he says that he chose to speak because of the recent allegations that are currently being investigated by WWE’s Board of Directors.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
“Inzitari doesn’t use the word rape while talking about what happened. But he describes something that sounds like the conventional definition of that term.
“Was she taken advantage of? Absolutely,” Inzitari says. “Was she scared to death? Absolutely. Did she wanna do that? Probably not.”
Chatterton went public with her allegations in 1992 on Geraldo Rivera’s talk show. At the time, she said that in July 1986 she wanted to talk to McMahon about gaining full-time employment. McMahon allegedly said that he didn’t want to discuss those matters at the large dinner that they were at but that they should talk privately. As Chatterton was getting into her car, she says that she saw McMahon in his limo and he suggested that they talk there because he was tired and the limo driver was not there at the time.
Reisman wrote, “She declines to describe to me the specifics of what happened next” and then detailed what she had said before in two separate appearances with Rivera.
McMahon allegedly told Chatterton that if she wanted a $500,000/year deal then she would have to “satisfy him.” He then allegedly forced her to perform oral sex and then forced her to get on top of him for sex. McMahon allegedly threatened her to do this or risk getting blackballed from the industry.
Chatterton said that she initially did not tell her story out of fear that her parents would suffer from health issues due to stress and she only told the story after they passed away.
Rita Chatterton’s 1992 appearance on Geraldo’s show can be seen below.
