Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
If the name Emily Feinberg doesn’t ring a bell, you are probably not alone. The thing is, she was the woman who came very close to helping nearly take down Vince McMahon Jr and the then World Wrestling Federation in 1994. Who was she and how important was her intimate knowledge of Vince and the WWF? Very important if you were with the FBI.
It all began around 1989, when Feinberg was hired by McMahon to be his secretary or better termed…his “executive assistant.” Before getting hired by the WWF, Feinberg was a former Playboy Playmate in 1988 under her maiden name of Emily Arth. She along with her husband were hired by the company with Emily working directly under Vince and her husband working with WWF’s creative team.
Emily would quickly gain power in the WWF and become a trusted confidant of McMahon and Pat Patterson. She was put in charge of the company’s drug testing policy in the early 1990’s. Under Vince’s guidance, Emily would test the wrestlers and staff for cocaine use only. All other drugs like steroids and opiates were allegedly ignored by management. According to Feinberg, when a wrestler tested positive for other drugs other than cocaine…Vince allowed the wrestlers to pass saying that they needed something to keep up with the company’s daunting schedule.
How exactly did Feinberg gain so much trust with McMahon and become a part of his inner circle in just a short amount of time? It was alleged that the two had an affair while she was employed by the WWF. When the affair ended, she was quietly let go in 1991. A little while later, the United States government, in particular the FBI got ahold of her.
When Vince McMahon was being charged with steroid distribution in 1992…Feinberg became the FBI’s key witness in the impending trial. Her knowledge of the inner workings of the WWF was important for the prosecution lawyers. In August of 1994, when McMahon was on trial and the future of the WWF hanging in the balance, it was Feinberg’s testimony that was being banked on to help bring down the powerful wrestling promoter.
In her testimony, she said that Vince asked her to purchase a mini refrigerator for his office. At the time, McMahon claimed he wanted it to keep sodas in, but she quickly realized that he was storing vials of steroids inside of it. She also testified that McMahon treated Hulk Hogan as his top priority within the company and made sure that Hogan was well taken care of. Shipments of illegal steroids were shipped directly to Titan Towers (WWF headquarters) where Feinberg was responsible for splitting the shipment up with half going to McMahon and the other half going to Hulk Hogan.
Feinberg also said that when Vince became paranoid that the DEA was going to raid his office and home for drugs…McMahon instructed to take whatever vials of steroids he had available and hide them at Feinberg’s home. She testified that she did and when told to get rid of the evidence, Feinberg complied, but kept one vial, which she ultimately turned over to authorities.
WWF attorneys Jerry McDevitt and Laura Brevetti cross examined Feinberg and started by asking her about her outfit that she wore to court. They asked her if she was “dressing down” for the judge and jury insinuating that she dressed more provocatively while working at WWF offices. She insisted she wore the same outfit several times at work. The WWF attorneys then accused Feinberg of shopping around for a book deal on her relationship with Vince McMahon and demanding a better severance package from Vince after she was fired.
The WWF attorneys painted Emily Feinberg as a fame seeker and wanna be actress, who looked to the US government to get her name and face highlighted in such a high profile case. As most know, McMahon was eventually acquitted in the steroid case against him. It wouldn’t be the last time Emily Feinberg’s name emerged. In 1995, the FBI investigated WWF lawyer Laura Brevetti and her boyfriend Martin Bergman. Bergman was a free lance television producer who was accused of witness tampering by allegedly offering Feinberg between 250 to 400 thousand dollars for information to produce a TV piece on the trial. Feinberg went to the FBI with those details….Brevetti would respond by saying….“I have been advised of no investigation and have never been contacted by anyone in the government about the existence of one. In any event, there is absolutely no basis for any claim of wrongdoing by me. It’s clear to me that this story is being waged by certain individuals within the government who have a personal vendetta against me.”
Emily Arth is now divorced and resides in the Santa Monica, California area. She works as a VP of a computer software company in the Bay area.