Steve Wynn has stepped down as Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chair. The casino mogul had been accused of dozens of acts of sexual misconduct — including forcing one employee to have sex — in a Friday report from the Wall Street Journal.
“Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation as Republican National Committee finance chair,” RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said on Saturday.
“Effective today I am resigning as Finance Chairman of the RNC,” Wynn said in a statement to TheWrap. “The unbelievable success we have achieved must continue. The work we are doing to make America a better place is too important to be impaired by this distraction. I thank the President for the opportunity to serve and wish him continued success.
A replacement for Wynn has not yet been named.
A manicurist at Wynn’s flagship casino, Wynn Las Vegas, told the WSJ that in 2005 shortly after the opening of his namesake casino, Wynn “pressured her to take her clothes off” and have sex, despite insisting otherwise and telling him that she was married. The woman filed a human resources complaint and was later paid a $7.5 million settlement, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The payment was pointed to in a lawsuit from Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine Wynn, and admitted by Wynn’s attorney. Wynn Resorts, in a statement to the WSJ, said she is trying to “tarnish the reputation of Mr. Wynn in an attempt to pressure a revised divorce settlement.”
Wynn told the WSJ that “the idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous.”
The report outlines several claims of inappropriate behavior from Wynn, stretching across decades. One former massage therapist said Wynn would take off his towel and instruct her to “massage his penis to climax.” She felt she “had no choice but to agree,” since Wynn was her boss. At later appointments, he asked her to perform oral sex, but she refused, according to the report.
Another worker said Wynn made similar inappropriate massage requests, but eventually relented after being told it made the woman uncomfortable.
Other ex-employees said Wynn would walk around in “extremely short shorts without underwear,” and would often sit in a position where his genitals were exposed. Another employee said Wynn spent weeks pursuing her — at one point asking, “so when are you going to come into my office and f– me?” In one instance, Wynn grabbed her and tried to kiss her, but she “slipped out,” according to the report.
Wynn is known as one of the leading builders in Las Vegas. The 75-year-old was involved in numerous projects, including the Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island casinos. His 12 percent stake in Wynn Resorts is worth more than $2 billion. But the company’s stock took a beating on Friday, falling 7 percent to about $186 per share after the report was published.
Read the full WSJ report here.