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Vince McMahon and the WWE have been accused in a brand new lawsuit of realizing about and allowing the “rampant and open” sexual abuse of young boys by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips Jr.
Phillips, who labored for the wrestling group all through the Seventies, Nineteen Eighties and into the early Nineties, died in 2012.
The swimsuit, which has been seen by The Independent, was filed in Baltimore County on behalf of 5 nameless alleged victims recognized solely as John Does. It names McMahon, the WWE and its dad or mum firm TKO Holdings among the many defendants.
According to the lawsuit, Phillips used his place to rent boys as young as 12 or 13 to help the ring crew in getting ready for WWE exhibits. However, per the swimsuit, “Phillips’ real motivation in luring the Ring Boys with the promise of access to the popular WWE events was to sexually abuse them.”
The swimsuit goes on to assert that McMahon knew about Phillips’s actions, quoting him as saying in the Nineteen Eighties that the announcer had a “peculiar and unnatural interest” in young boys.
The swimsuit additionally alleges that at some venues, the defendants supplied Phillips with a non-public dressing room “where he would use his own expensive video camera (extremely rare at the time) to film his sexual escapades with the children.”
Vince McMahon’s lawyer, Jessica Rosenberg, advised The Independent in an announcement: “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.
“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.”
In a separate assertion to The Independent, Greg Gutzler, a accomplice at legislation agency DiCello Levitt, which is main the litigation, stated: “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.
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“That so many were aware of the sexual abuse of the Ring Boys and did nothing to prevent or stop it is simply unconscionable.”
Mark DiCello, founding accomplice of DiCello Levitt, added: “The WWE and McMahons had a responsibility to these underaged boys, and they failed them in the worst way possible. We will vigorously fight to uncover the truth about this systemic, insidious, and life-altering abuse.
“We commend our clients for their bravery in coming forward and promise to relentlessly seek justice for them.”
Last month, McMahon was the topic of the Netflix docuseries Mr McMahon which included a number of extra accusations of misconduct, together with allegations of sexual assault and trafficking former worker Janel Grant. McMahon has claimed he was “misrepresented” by the collection.
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