Vince McMahon is facing yet another lawsuit, this time from five former “ring boys” who claim the wrestling mogul did nothing to stop them from being exploited and sexually abused when they worked as underage employees for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
The lawsuit, filed anonymously in Maryland court this week against McMahon, his wife Linda, WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, contains accusations that the parties allowed “open, rampant abuse” of ring boys as young as 12, who worked alongside announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. in the 1980s and 1990s.
Phillips, who died in 2012, is the alleged perpetrator of the abuse, and the lawsuit claims he groomed and abused young boys after recruiting them to help set up the ring and run errands for WWE’s travelling broadcast.
“Phillips’s real motivation in luring the ring boys with the promise of gaining access to the popular WWE events was to sexually abuse them,” the suits alleges. “And Vince McMahon knew it, admitting that he was aware, at least as early as the 1980s, that Phillips had a ‘peculiar and unnatural interest’ in young boys.”
The law firm representing the accusers said Phillips targeted children from broken homes, but that the abuse occurred “in plain sight,” often in wrestling venues and hotel rooms while on tour.
“Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who allowed and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys,” Greg Gutzler, a partner at DiCello Levitt, said in a press release shared by wrestling reporter Brandon Thurston.
Jessica Rosenberg, a lawyer for McMahon, told USA Today that the allegations are “false claims” and stem from New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick’s reporting of the alleged abuse 32 years ago.
“The negligence claims against Mr. McMahon that were asserted today rely on these same absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless statements by Mr. Mushnick. We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded,” Rosenberg said in a statement.
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While Phillips was fired for a short time in 1988, he was rehired just six weeks later with a warning to “steer clear from kids,” the filing alleges.
“By rehiring him, defendants allowed Phillips to continue abusing innocent kids,” the suit says.
It’s the latest lawsuit levelled against McMahon and his brand. Both are facing fresh scrutiny after Netflix’s recent Mr. McMahon docuseries started streaming; the series takes an in-depth look at the problematic and pervasive issues behind the scenes in the WWE.
In 2022, McMahon stepped down as CEO and chairman of WWE during an investigation into alleged misconduct, but he returned to the WWE as executive chairman six months later.
At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon agreed to pay more than US$12 million over the past 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.
Six months after his return, in January of this year, he was hit with another harrowing lawsuit — this time from ex-WWE employee Janel Grant, who accused McMahon of emotionally and physically abusing her, defecating on her body during group sex and insisting she have sex with him and other men.
Grant said she feared she would be fired if she didn’t comply with McMahon’s abuses.
McMahon disputed the allegations, saying in a statement earlier this year: “I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth.”
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