The hits keep on coming at scandal-rocked former WWE boss Vince McMahon.
In a new lawsuit, five men allege that the former CEO of the world’s biggest professional wrestling organization did nothing to stop them from being exploited and sexually abused as underaged “ring boys.”
The suit was filed anonymously in a Maryland court against McMahon, his wife Linda, WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, and alleges negligence for allowing “systemic and pervasive abuse” of underage children.
The complaint and demand for a jury trial filed on Wednesday alleges the McMahons knew about and failed to stop decades of sexual assault — from the 1970s to early 1990s — involving former WWE ring crew chief Melvin Phillips Jr.
The complaint alleges Phillips, who died in 2012, hired underage boys – some as young as 12 — to assist the ring crew in preparation for shows, then groomed and abused them.
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“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.”
Jessica Rosenberg, an attorney for McMahon, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports 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.
McMahon had admitted to Mushnick in the 1980s that he and Linda knew that Phillips had a “peculiar and unnatural interest” in boys, the suit says.
Phillips had been fired in 1988 amid sexual abuse allegations, but was rehired within six weeks 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 is alleged that sometimes Phillips would abuse the boys inside a WWE event dressing room and other times he would carry out the acts in hotel rooms.
“It was there for the WWE and its leaders to see in plain sight, yet no one did anything to stop Phillips’s rampant and open abuse of young boys,” the filing stated.
“Defendants knowingly gave Phillips free rein to use his highly public WWE personality and image to entice local kids from the area near the WWE shows to help set up and take down the wrestling ring.”
Vince McMahon also is facing a lawsuit from former WWE employee Janel Grant, who alleges the professional wrestling company’s founder took part in sex trafficking and sexual abuse. That case currently is paused as the U.S. Department of Justice conducts its own investigation.