During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, former WWE star Daria Berenato (Sonya Deville) discussed the fan stalker incident that led to her time away from WWE. She revealed how Vince McMahon provided crucial support, including arranging temporary housing.
Berenato recounted her conversation with McMahon: “I’m talking to Vince, because SummerSlam is coming up, and obviously he’s like, checking in on me. And he’s like, ‘are you okay?’ He’s like, ‘why don’t you come to the venue? I want to say hi to you. I want to hug you.’ And I was like, okay, so we drove to the venue. We saw him, Hunter was there, Stephanie was there.”
The conversation continued with McMahon asking, “‘What do you need for me?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’ He’s like, ‘Well, are you going to be okay, like, staying back in your house?’ And I was like, ‘No, I don’t think I can go back there.’ I looked on my ADT cameras, and there was reporters all over my front doorstep. And I’m like, ‘I can’t, I can’t do this.'”
Berenato further explained McMahon’s assistance: “Vince is like, ‘no, what do you want to do? Do you need a place to stay?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know. My dad’s coming down tomorrow. I’ll try to figure something out.’ He’s like, ‘Alright, we’ll get you a place to stay if you need a place to stay.’ … Vince rented a house for me to stay in in a different part of Florida. My mom came down and stayed with me. Mandy stayed with me a little bit. Mandy’s mom came and stayed and [Vince] hired 24/7 armed security. These guys had guns on their hips.”
She detailed the immediate aftermath: “And that’s where I went after there, and nobody knows that. Luckily, I got a call from Tampa Police Department a few days later, or whatever, and he [the stalker] was granted no bail…So then I was safe, but I didn’t feel safe. And the next, however many months, was a whirlwind. I went and got my right to carry. I finally moved myself into a high rise apartment where I thought I’d feel most secure.”
Berenato confirmed she stayed in the temporary residence for a month and ultimately sold her previous home after renting it out for a couple of years. The full interview is embedded below.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
