Rita Chatterton Was the First Female Referee in the WWF — Then Vince McMahon Allegedly Raped Her

In 1992, Rita Chatterton went on The Geraldo Rivera Show to tell the world she had allegedly been raped by WWF (now WWE) owner Vince McMahon. As Rivera was introducing her, the talk show host began by pointing out that she was the first female referee in the WWF.

Chatterton then added that as of that moment, she was also the only one. While he was complimenting her, Chatterton looked forward with pride on her face. When Rivera reached the sexual assault allegations, she looked down.

It's painful to see Chatterton processing what happened to her, both in front of a studio audience and anyone watching. It's also enraging to think that someone who should have been applauded for breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling, was banished to the basement.

Since that time, it has been revealed that McMahon has paid multiple women millions of dollars in an effort to keep them quiet. It took a minute, but Chatterton eventually spoke up again. Where is she now? Here's what we know.

In August 2021, Chatterton received a "Trailblazer Award" from the International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, reported the Intelligencer. This came about when the Hall of Fame founder, Seth Turner, called Chatterton up to let her know he wanted to honor her accomplishments.

For obvious reasons, Chatterton initially declined his offer but upon further reflection realized she would be doing herself and other women a great disservice.

It took a bit of convincing on Turner's part, but Chatterton soon found herself on a stage accepting the reward. Part of the reason why she said yes was because Chatterton did in fact want to be seen.

"I always said I don’t want to live and die and be forgotten," she told Turner. In the end, she was very happy she did it.

Another reason why this was such a significant achievement for Chatterton was because in her family, watching wrestling was like going to church. Every Sunday she and her family would gather around the television and watch events that were probably produced by McMahon's father.

Chatterton's brother had dreams of becoming a professional wrestler until he was killed in a car accident in 1979. She decided since he couldn't do it, she would do it for him.

When a medical issue dashed Chatterton's dreams as well, she told her father that becoming a referee was the next best thing.

"I’d still be honoring my brother, but wouldn’t get beat up the way the wrestlers do," Chatterton told the Intelligencer. She completed her training in 1984 and by 1985, was making her television debut during a match at Madison Square Gardens.

After that, McMahon dangled a full-time job in front of her that paid $500,000 a year, as well as possible magazine covers.

The more she tried to talk to McMahon about her contract, the more difficult it became. Finally, he agreed to meet with her at a diner but when she arrived, Chatterton found several people sharing McMahon's table.

He finally suggested they speak alone at a different diner, then said they should just talk in his limo. That's when he allegedly raped her while suggesting that's what had to be done to get the job. Soon after, the WWF stopped asking her to work.

According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement in December 2022. In a letter sent to McMahon by her attorney a month prior, Chatterton demanded $11.75 million in damages but ended up agreeing to a lesser amount. The letter stated that Chatterton had suffered from "years of ongoing depression, substance abuse, disordered eating, lost income, and overall a decreased quality of life."

When McMahon settled, it had only been six months since Chatterton spoke with the Intelligencer. During the conversation, she said she didn't think McMahon was going to "pay for what he did to her." Thankfully, she was wrong.