What is 'ring boys' lawsuit against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon?

A new lawsuit was filed against Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon & Linda McMahon

Former WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. He is named in a new lawsuit along with his wife Linda McMahon and WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holding.

The new lawsuit was filed on October 23 and accuses McMahon and his wife alongside WWE’s parent company of negligence in permitting ‘systematic and widespread abuse’ of underage children.

McMahon was also recently accused by former WWE writers of creating a hostile work environment. According to a recent investigative piece, ‘A Kingdom Ruled by Fear’ by Rolling Stone six former writers for WWE have come forward to accuse Vince McMahon of creating a toxic and hostile work environment.

The former CEO is also under federal investigation as he has been accused of involvement in sex trafficking and sexual abuse by a former WWE employee Janel Grant.

Also Read: Former WWE chairman Vince McMahon created hostile work environment: Reports

The civil lawsuit against Vince McMahon was filed by law firms DiCello Levitt and Murphy

The lawsuit filed on October 23 was filed on behalf of five anonymous plaintiffs and accuses former WWE ring announcer Mel Phillips and WWE Wrestler Terry Garvin of sexually abusing young “ring boys” as young as 12 years old who were hired to help assemble the ring before WWE matches in the 1970s and into the 1990s.

“The WWE and McMahons had a responsibility to these underaged boys, and they failed them in the worst way possible,” said lawyer Mark DiCello.

The civil lawsuit also claims that Vince and Linda were aware of the abuse but never took any action against it or tried to stop it. According to the lawsuit, all the plaintiffs were underage boys during their tenure at the promotion.

As per the recent lawsuit, Phillips groomed and sexually assaulted the children. Mel Phillips passed away in 2012. The Ring Boy scandal was first reported by Alex Marvez of the Miami Herald in 1992. The FBI investigated claims of sexual abuse of minors and identified at least 10 victims. However, no criminal charges were filed at that time.

An attorney for Vince McMahon, Jessica Rosenberg, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports that the allegations are “false claims”. “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,”

Rosenberg further added that they will defend the claims against the former WWE CEO, “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.”

This ‘ring boys’ scandal was also discussed in the recent Netflix docu-series ‘Mr. McMahon’ which was released on September 25, 2024, and explored the influential yet controversial career of McMahon.

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