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New lawsuit alleges child sexual abuse of WWE ringboys in Maryland

By LIA SKEN Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — A new lawsuit accuses WWE and its founders of promoting a culture of sexual violence within the organization and looking the other way while a longtime announcer preyed on young men he hired as “ringboys.” .

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Maryland, where a recent law change eliminated the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims, clearing the way for victims to sue regardless of their age or amount of time.

The complaint alleges that Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012, targeted disadvantaged youths and hired them as “ringboys” to help prepare for wrestling matches. According to the complaint filed on behalf of the five men, Phillips then assaulted them in his locker room, hotels and even in the wrestlers’ locker room.

The abuses detailed in the lawsuit occurred over several years during Phillips’ long tenure with the organization, which lasted from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Because of his death, Phillips is not among those named as defendants.

Instead, the complaint is directed at World Wrestling Entertainment founders Vince and Linda McMahon, the husband and wife team who built the organization into the powerhouse it is today. According to the complaint, the couple was well aware of Phillips’ brazen misconduct but did little to stop him.

“This was not an isolated incident,” said attorney Greg Gutzler, who represents five unnamed plaintiffs. “There was a culture of abuse and it started at the top.”

According to the lawsuit filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, the violence occurred in several states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. All plaintiffs were between 13 and 15 years old when they met Phillips.

Gutzler said the plaintiffs finally found the strength to come forward and sue after Vince McMahon resigned from WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings earlier this year amid his own sexual harassment scandal. He resigned in January after a woman who formerly worked for WWE filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of serious misconduct, including soliciting her star wrestler for sex and distributing pornographic photos and videos of her. McMahon had already stepped down as WWE CEO in 2022 during an investigation into allegations consistent with those in the federal lawsuit.

An attorney representing McMahon, Jessica Rosenberg, denied the latest allegations of abuse contained in the complaint Wednesday. In a written statement, she referred to New York Post reporting from the early ’90s, saying the recent lawsuit made “the same false allegations.”

“We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident that the court will find these allegations to be false and without merit,” the statement said.

Emails were sent to Linda McMahon and her organization seeking comment.

Attorneys for the remaining defendants are not yet listed in online court records. Emails seeking comment were sent to WWE and TKO Group Holdings.

McMahon has been the leader and most recognizable face of WWE for decades. When he bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches were held in small venues and broadcast on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and the organization has a significant following abroad.

Last April, WWE merged with the company that operates the Ultimate Fighting Championship to create the $21.4 billion sports entertainment company TKO Group Holdings.

The lawsuit alleges that WWE leaders “gave Phillips free rein to use his public persona and image within WWE to seduce local children” by allowing them to date famous wrestlers and attend popular events.

It claims the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 over abuse allegations that surfaced around the same time, but they rehired him six weeks later.

Linda McMahon, who stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2009, later headed the Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit was filed under a Maryland law that took effect last year after state lawmakers voted to eliminate the statute of limitations for such cases. Before the change, people in Maryland who were sexually abused as children could file claims until they were 38 years old.

Lawmakers approved the change in light of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal after a scathing investigative report revealed the extent of the problem in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But it opened the door to lawsuits against a number of other entities, including the state juvenile justice agency.

However, the future of these claims is unclear as the constitutionality of the law is currently being decided by the Maryland Supreme Court.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.