Former WWE founder and president, Vince McMahon is being sued by five former WWE “Ring Boys,” who allege that McMahon 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.”
While the sexual abuse allegations date as far back as the 1980’s, NY Post columnist alleged that Phillips was molesting the “Ring Boys” and that McMahon knew about the abuse and failed to do anything about it.
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.
According to the lawsuit, McMahon fired Phillips in 1988 but re-hired him six weeks later with the proviso that he steer clear of children.
This is not McMahon’s first brush with the civil law. 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 $12 million to four women to cover up “allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”
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