Five young men who previously served as “ring boys” for WWE have now sued WWE, its founder Vince McMahon, his wife Linda McMahon, and Holdings of TKO Group claiming negligence over “systematic and systematic abuse” of underage children.
The complaint and demand for a jury trial was filed on the John Doe’s behalf Wednesday in the Baltimore County Circuit Court. It accuses the McMahons of having knowledge and watching or taking part in a decade of sexual assault, from the 1970s to the early 1990s by the former WWE ring crew chief Melvin Phillips Jr.
This complaint accuses Phillips, who passed away in 2012, of using boy prospects as young as 12 that helped the ring crew for WWE shows, before sexually abusing them.
“Phillip enticed the ring boys to this place by telling them that they will be able to attend the most exciting WWE events Many of whom Phillip sexually abused, Vince knew it too; he admitted to knowing, at least from the early 1980s, that Phillips was twisted, and had a ‘peculiar and unnatural interest in young boys’,” the suits claim.
McMahon’s attorney Jessica Rosenberg falsely accused of sexual misconduct said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports that the allegations are “false claims” that originated from New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick’s write up of abuse 32 years ago.
The negligence claims against Mr. McMahon that were asserted today are as frivolous as these absurd, defamatory and patently untrue remarks by Mr. Mushnick. Mr. McMahon was heavily involved in preparing this case and we will aggressively support him; the court will categorically dismiss these allegations as a fabrication.
Each and every one of the John Does in the lawsuit detailed their claimed encounters with Phillips, during which he sexually assaulted them on multiple occasions of WWE events and in “the clear view of other wrestlers and WWE executives.”
They also accuse Phillips of taking boys to his hotel room and filming them having sex.
The complaint claims that McMahon and his wife “failed to act even though they knew or should have known” the risk for sexual harassment by hiring Phillips as it was known in the company, and that McMahon either directly or indirectly paid for Phillips to transport and board the victims.
“Defendants were fully aware of the systemic and pervasive abuse and did nothing to prevent or stop it,” the suit states.
sexual misconduct with underage boys after one of the ring boys came out in public to report of the abuse. Phillips was sacked by McMahon in the past but was later hired back and told not to interact with children.
It was also a subject of the Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon, which also described sexual abuse allegations against company employees Terry Garvin and Pat Patterson.
The lawyers representing the five plaintiffs in the Wednesday’s case said that there are probably many other victims who were abused too and the five alleged victims decided to come forward after they “recently learned how much the McMahons and the WWE knew about what happened to them.”
‘Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to seek justice for those who facilitated and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys,’ Greg Gutzler of DiCello Levitt, the law firm that leads the litigation, said. “It is horrific that so many people knew the Ring Boys were being sexually abused and did nothing to stop it or prevent it from happening.”
McMahon is also personally named in another lawsuit brought by a former WWE employee who accused the wrestling company’s founder of being involved in sex trafficking and sexual abuse.