Vince McMahon, embattled former CEO of WWE, sued for allegedly enabling sexual abuse

File - Vince McMahon stands at Republican state convention in Hartford, Conn. (Jessica Hill / The Associated Press)

A new lawsuit alleges Vince McMahon knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a WWE employee in the 1980s.

The suit, filed on behalf of five former WWE “Ring Boys,” alleges McMahon, his wife Linda McMahon, the WWE, and TKO Group Holdings, the league’s parent company, knowingly allowed former ringside announcer Melvin Phillips, Jr. to use his position to sexually exploit children as young as 12 and 13 years old.

“Phillips lured and manipulated the young boys with promises of meeting famous wrestlers and attending the highly popular wrestling shows, experiences that were otherwise unattainable for these kids,” the lawsuit alleges. “(The McMahons and the WWE) allowed Phillips and others to engage in, and foster, the WWE’s rampant culture of sexual abuse.”

The WWE did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Jessica Rosenberg, an attorney for Vince McMahon, called the allegations false.

“More than 30 years ago, the columnist Phil Mushnick tried to make headlines with these same false claims. Those allegations were never proven,” Rosenberg said in a statement. “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.”

The suit, filed in Baltimore County, Maryland, on behalf of five John Does, alleges Phillips would recruit children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him run errands to set up for WWE events. However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the boys, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit alleges McMahon was aware of Phillips’ abuse of the children. In fact, the lawsuit alleges McMahon admitted that he was aware as early as the 1980s that Phillips had a “peculiar and unnatural interest” in young boys.

Phillips worked for the WWE in the 1970s, 80s and 90s as a “prominent” ringside announcer and crew chief. He died in 2012.

“It was common knowledge in the WWE—among the ring crew, wrestlers, and executives—that Phillips surrounded himself with a posse of underaged Ring Boys, including when he traveled across state lines and stayed in hotel rooms with the children,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 after allegations about him sexually exploiting children continued to surface. Yet they rehired him six weeks later, and the lawsuits alleges he continued recruiting young men to sexually exploit.

The lawsuit alleges the McMahons re-hired Phillips on the condition that he “steer clear from kids,” yet he did not, and they knowingly let it happen. Phillips would often film his sexual abuse of the underage Ring Boys on video camera, the lawsuit alleges.

“After decades of suffering in silence from their childhood trauma, these survivors come forward now to hold (McMahon and the WWE) accountable for their conduct in allowing the systemic and pervasive abuse by Philips,” the lawsuit alleges.

No one has ever been criminally charged.

Linda McMahon stepped down as CEO of WWE in 2009. She worked in former President Donald Trump’s cabinet as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration before stepping down in 2019.

This lawsuit is the latest in a series of misconduct allegations against McMahon and the WWE. In 2022, McMahon stepped down as CEO of WWE and the following year paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to Rita Chatterton, a former employee and referee, who accused McMahon of raping her in 1986. McMahon returned to WWE’s board in January 2023.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported in 2022 McMahon had paid more than US$12 million to four women to cover up “allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”

In January, McMahon stepped down as chairman of TKO, WWE’s parent company, following allegations of sexual assault and trafficking. McMahon has denied the allegations.