Vince McMahon and the 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, 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.
NBC News has contacted the McMahons, TKO and the WWE for comment; none have so far responded or commented on the case publicly. Phillips died in 2012.
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 alleged sexual assaults against the five unidentified claimants happened at wrestling events but also at hotels and other venues, the suit said. Phillips “lured and manipulated” 12- and 13-year-old boys with the promise of meeting wrestling stars.
The suit alleges that Phillips would abuse the claimants in his dressing room while filming it 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.