Vince McMahon and WWE have been accused of knowing about and failing to stop the sexual exploitation of young boys by a ringside announcer in a lawsuit filed on behalf of five alleged victims Wednesday.
The suit, filed in Baltimore County, Maryland, accuses McMahon and his wife, Linda McMahon, and World Wrestling Entertainment and its parent company, TKO Holdings, of allowing the "open, rampant abuse" of so-called "ring boys" as young as 12 who acted as assistants to ringside announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. in the 1980s and 1990s.
TKO and WWE did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Phillips died in 2012.
Jessica Rosenberg, attorney for Vince McMahon, of the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld law firm, said in a statement to NBC News that claims mentioned in the lawsuit, first reported by the New York Post in the early 1990s, were false.
“More than 30 years ago, the columnist Phil Mushnick tried to make headlines with these same false claims. Those allegations were never proven and ultimately became the subject of a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Mushnick," Rosenberg said.
“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.”
Law firms DiCello Levitt and Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement: "The underaged Ring Boys were groomed, exploited, and sexually abused by Phillips, who targeted children from broken homes."
The suit alleges the five unidentified claimants were sexually assaulted not only at wrestling events but also at hotels and other venues. Phillips "lured and manipulated" 12- and 13-year-old boys with the promise of meeting wrestling stars, it claims.
The suit alleges that Phillips would abuse the claimants in his dressing room while recording the incidents with a video camera. Two of the claimants are from Massachusetts, two are from Pennsylvania and one is from Florida — they are referred to as John Does.
The suit accuses the McMahons of long knowing of Phillips’ “peculiar and unnatural interest” in young boys.
Greg Gutzler, a partner at DiCello Levitt, who is leading the litigation, said that it was “simply unconscionable” that so many were allegedly aware of the abuse and doing nothing to stop it.
"Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who allowed and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys," he said.
McMahon fired Phillips in 1988, the suit alleges, after allegations were made about the announcer's behavior, only to rehire him six weeks later on the condition that he "steer away from kids." The suit adds: "He did not, and they knew it."
The suit says that the claimants only recently learned how much those named in the lawsuit knew about the alleged crimes, partly because of a lawsuit from Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, accusing McMahon of sex trafficking and forcing her into a sexual relationship in exchange for a job.
McMahon disputed the allegations, saying in a statement this year: “I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth.”
A six-part Netflix documentary, "Mr. McMahon," released last month centered on several accusations of misconduct against McMahon, including the case brought by Grant.
NBC News reported last year that the WWE disclosed that investigators served McMahon with a federal grand jury subpoena and executed a search warrant.
Marci Hamilton, founder and CEO of Child USA, a nonprofit group that campaigns to strengthen children’s rights, said the case was possible only because of a statute-of-limitation windows in Maryland that the group fought for.
"One of the greatest tools in our arsenal is to push for statute of limitations reform so perpetrators and their enabling institutions can be held accountable in cases of delayed disclosure," she said.
