Warning: The following story contains accounts of alleged sexual abuse.
A fresh round of allegations against former WWE CEO and patriarch Vince McMahon continue to not only underscore the broken culture that existed inside professional wrestling’s largest company, but also the stunning silence coming from those in positions of power now.
Five individuals named as “John Does 1-5” filed a lawsuit against Vincent K. McMahon, Linda McMahon, and WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings, Inc. alleging the parties knew of systemic grooming and sexual abuse of teenage boys hired by the company as “Ring Boys” in the 1980s and 90s to run errands and set up the arena prior to events. The suit names former announcer and ring chief Melvin Phillips Jr. as the primary perpetrator, targeting boys from broken homes to hire, groom, and sexually abuse while in a position of power within the company.
The suit alleges that Vince and Linda McMahon, as well as other people inside WWE were aware of the abuse, which occurred backstage at wrestling shows as well as at company-booked hotels, but did nothing to stop Phillips’ actions. It adds that the plaintiffs previously were unaware that the McMahons and others knew of the abuse, but learned from the pending lawsuit against Vince from Janelle Grant, as well as other media surrounding McMahon’s exit from WWE that they indeed had knowledge of the abuse of ring boys as it was happening.
We’re left, yet again, with a case directly implicating the WWE as an entity, but with no acknowledgment from WWE or TKO itself — who have not issued a statement on the latest lawsuit. This follows a pattern of behavior in which decision-makers inside the company have been content to absolve the company of any wrongdoing, pin it on Vince McMahon solely, without any evidence of actions taken to prevent sexual abuse.
In June of 2022 an internal investigation was opened into Vince McMahon after it was revealed he made $19.6M in undisclosed payments to settle sexual misconduct allegations that took place between 2006 and 2022. Details of this investigation were never made public.
In January of 2023 a former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit alleging that she was sexually abused and sexually trafficked from 2019 to 2022 by McMahon, WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and a former WWE/UFC performer.
In February of 2024 the FBI opened a federal investigation into McMahon for “rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment or discrimination” of former WWE employees — identifying a referee, a contractor, and a wrestler as part of the investigation. These actions are believed to have taken place between 1992 and 2022.
Now there is the ring boy lawsuit, which continues to highlight a pattern of behavior which didn’t simply exist in the 1980s and early-90s in isolation, but rather underscores over 30 years of continuing allegations against McMahon and WWE by extension.
It’s here where the silence from WWE is unacceptable and alarming. While nobody doubts that Vince McMahon was the nexus of these claims, it’s extremely unsettling that there are people in positions of power who are directly related to McMahon, or who were employed by the company during the time period many of these allegations occurred. All of whom have remained free of any questioning or scrutiny.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque is WWE’s current chief content officer, son-in-law of Vince McMahon and husband of Stephanie McMahon who was chief brand officer of WWE from 2013-2022, as well as interim CEO and Chairwoman of the company.
Levesque was routinely identified as heir apparent to McMahon, and seemed poised for a takeover of the company when his father-in-law retired. This indicates a level of knowledge of the high-level workings of the company which make it difficult to believe he was completely unaware of any of the allegations during his time as an executive. This is underscored by the fact nobody at WWE is acknowledging these suits, raising questions about their leadership’s transparency as a publicly traded company.
There needs to be a significant investigation and audit of WWE’s workplace practices with a scope beyond Vince McMahon. Investors and fans of the company should have confidence that these lawsuits and allegations don’t implicate anyone currently in a leadership role. We’re talking the very most basic tenets of ethical practice, but as it stands the company continues to put everything on McMahon as a monolith and play dumb when it comes to discussion of the workplace environment that extended beyond him.
It’s unacceptable, and WWE should do better.
