President Donald Trump’s Twitter account indicated a ‘like’ for the Wall Street Journal article which broke the news about his foe-turned-friend Steve Wynn’s alleged sexual misconduct on Friday.
Wynn, the billionaire mogul, is being accused of sexual misconduct by a number of female employees at his Las Vegas hotel and casino.
The paper reported that a number of women say they were harassed or assaulted by the casino mogul and finance chair of the Republican National Committee.
One worker said that she was coerced into performing a sex act on Wynn, 76, with her hand at the end of his massages, adding that Wynn asked at one point if she could use her mouth rather than rubbing his penis to climax when they were done with the session.
President Donald Trump’s Twitter account indicated a ‘like’ for the Wall Street Journal article which broke the news about his foe-turned-friend Steve Wynn’s alleged sexual misconduct on Friday. Trump (left) is seen with Wynn in New York in 2012
Moments after Trump’s Twitter account ‘liked’ the Wall Street Journal article, it was deleted
Though Wynn and Trump are said to be friends, they were once fierce rivals in the business world. The two men are seen above at a baseball game in New York in 2006
That woman refused, but in 2005 another employee was not able to decline Wynn’s advances when he ordered her to disrobe and lie on a table so they could have sex.
She reported Wynn and received a $7.5 million settlement, which was revealed by Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine in court papers.
It was that court filing which led to the Journal’s investigation.
Soon after clicking ‘like’ on the article, Trump’s Twitter account ‘unliked’ it and it disappeared.
Though Wynn and Trump are said to be friends, they were once fierce rivals in the business world.
Like Wynn, Trump once owned casinos in Atlantic City, though they all went bankrupt.
In the 1980s and 90s, Wynn and Trump did battle in turf wars for their respective casino and real estate empires.
They called each other names in the press, with Trump referring to Wynn as a ‘scumbag’ while Wynn responded that Trump was ‘all hat and no cattle,’ according to New York magazine.
Also like Wynn, Trump has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, including groping and harassment.
In years past, Wynn was a supporter of the Democratic Party. He donated to Democratic-aligned political action committees as well as other institutions.
But after Barack Obama became president, Wynn switched allegiances to the Republicans.
In 2011, Wynn was convinced that Obama was ‘the greatest wet blanket to business and progress and job creation in my lifetime,’ according to Business Insider.
Last year, Wynn was rewarded for his loyalty to the Republicans when he was named the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Wynn also helped organize Trump’s inauguration, helping to raise $100million.
Now the Las Vegas casino magnate is embroiled in his own sex scandal, which has resulted in a $250million loss from his net worth, according to Forbes.
After the revelations of alleged sexual misconduct surfaced, shares of Wynn Resorts fell more than 10 percent on Friday.
Wynn, the largest shareholder, owns a 12 percent stake in the company,.
The Wall Street Journal spoke with 150 people who currently work for Wynn or have in the past, and a number of the women who no longer work at one of the billionaire businessman’s properties were incredibly forthcoming in describing the lengths they would allegedly go to in order to avoid being alone with their boss.
Some scheduled fake appointments to make sure they would not be chosen to give Wynn spa treatments, while others went so far as to hide in bathrooms when he came into the salon.
These guys: Steve Wynn is being accused of sexual misconduct by a number of female employees at his Las Vegas casino (l t r: Roberto Cavalli, Elaine Wynn, Steve Wynn, Melania Trump, Eva Cavalli and Donald Trump in 2006)
Second wife, third marriage: In 2011, Wynn married socialite Andrea Hissom (pair above at Mar-a-Lago over New Year’s)
Viva: In a recent court filing, his ex-wife Elaine alleges that a $7.5 million payout was made in 2007 to a manicurist he forced into having sex with him at his Las Vegas property (above)
The masseuse who brought Wynn to climax with her hand said she refused to do the same with her mouth, while also detailing how the casino magnate slowly groomed her over the course of their relationship.
Wynn booked multiple appointments a week with the woman several years ago, and at one point threw his towel off and never wore it again claims the former employee.
Then, he began to rub her legs while she was massaging him, which led to the session when he allegedly asked her to finish by massaging his penis until he had achieved full release.
At the end of every session, the woman said that Wynn paid her $1,000 in cash, regardless of any extra services that may have been provided for the client’s added pleasure.
When she told Wynn that his requests made her uncomfortable he stopped requesting her for massages, and she finally told a co-worker.
She said that she did not go into specifics and just told the woman there had been inappropriate behavior.
That woman recalled the conversation, and added that she did not mention to the female employee that Wynn had also stopped requesting her when she balked at his demands for her to rub his genitals.
Shawn Cardinal, a former personal assistant to Elaine, said that in the late 1990s Wynn began contacting her outside work and demanding the two spend time together alone.
‘What are you wearing? Why don’t you hang out with me after work?’ he would ask according to Cardinal.
‘I was not brave enough to say, “How dare you?” I just joked my way out of it and I made sure I was never alone with him.’
Support system: Wynn married his first wife Elaine (pair above in 2005) in 1963, divorced her in 1986, remarried her in 1991 and divorced her once again in 2010
Anchors away: Multiple spa workers said that Wynn (above in 2013 in St Tropez) could sit with his genitals hanging out of his shorts while getting services at the salon, leading some women to hide from him
Chomping at the bit: Wynn (above in 2014) has denied all the allegations being made against him, saying his wife is out to get him
Wynn also paraded around the casino in short shorts and no underwear at time according to several employees, with workers in the spa stating that his genitals would be hanging out and on full display at times.
And he is accused of trying to get intimate with female workers he could not get alone in a room with him by kissing them in what they describe as sudden attacks that came out of nowhere.
Two women who Wynn allegedly demanded kiss him said that he made these requests after they had been working for him for years, though one did also note that she had been sexually harassed multiple times before that incident.
Sweet treat: Wynn and Andrea in St Tropez in 2014 (above)
That woman said Wynn once ribbed his partially exposed genitals while detailing what sex acts he wished to perform on her and another time called and asked: ‘So when are you going to come into my office and f*** me?’
‘The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,’ said Wynn in a statement.
‘We find ourselves in a world where people can make allegations, regardless of the truth, and a person is left with the choice of weathering insulting publicity or engaging in multi-year lawsuits. It is deplorable for anyone to find themselves in this situation.’
He then accused his ex-wife of spreading false reports because of the ‘terrible and nasty lawsuit’ she has filed in hopes of getting a ‘revised divorce settlement.’
Elaine is trying to get more control over the $1.9 billion in stock she received after the pair split, while her ex is trying to keep the strong restrictions detailing what she can and cannot do with that money in place.
She wrote in her court filing that it was in 2009 when she learned of the incident involving Wynn and the manicurist, which possible led to their second divorce the following year.
Her argument is that by not telling his board about the payout, Wynn put the company at jeopardy.
That argument is problematic however given that Elaine never said anything during the five years she was on the board after learning about the lawsuit.
There they are: The Wynns attend the Senate policey luncheon at the White House on June 27 (above)
They’re back: The Wynns in the East Room of the White House exactly a month later in July (above)
Wynn is the most famous, and successful, casino owner in the world, having been behind countless properties in Las Vegas and Atlantic City including the Golden Nugget, the Mirage, the Bellagio, Treasure island and now the Encore and Wynn resorts an casinos.
He is also an avid art collector and owns or has owned works by Picasso, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, Jeff Koons.
In 2006, he famously put his elbow through Picasso’s La Reve while showing it to friends, just before he was set to sell it to hedge fund manager Steven Cohen for a then record-breaking $139 million.
The sale was cancelled when the story of what happened broke, and the painting was repaired at a cost of $90,000. Wynn also later sued his insurance company for failing to pay out what he claims should have been a $54million claim for lost value after he damaged the painting.
Wynn married his first wife Elaine in 1963, divorced her in 1986, remarried her in 1991 and divorced her once again in 2010, with Elaine remaining on the board of his company until 2015.
The two are still locked in a contentious court battle however, with Elaine, 73, filing papers last month asking that her husband give her access to more than $900million worth of stock she received in their divorce.
Elaine, who is worth $1.9billion, said she had handed the shares over to her husband to control after she was awarded them in the divorce ‘to help her partner of 41 years and the father of her children.’
The couple has two daughters, Kevyn and Gillian. Keyn was kidnapped in 1993 when she was 27 years old and Wynn paid $1.45million in cash from the casino vault for her safe return.
Police were later able to apprehend the kidnappers as one tried to purchase a Ferrari.
In 2011, Wynn married socialite Andrea Hissom, 54, the mother of model and singer Nick Hissom.
The pair are incredibly close with President Trump and the First Lady, and rang in the New Year at Mar-a-Lago, where Hissom wore a $13,000 Gucci dress