Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: ashley massaro, john laurenitis, Vince McMahon, wrestling

Ashley Massaro Accused Vince McMahon of Harassment in 2017 Statement

In a previously unreleased statement made before her 2019 death, Ashley Massaro accused Vince McMahon of sexual harassment.

In the wake of a sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit that forced Vince McMahon out of WWE, the company continues to grapple with a growing scandal over who else in the company was aware of the allegations against McMahon. McMahon was accused of sexual assault and trafficking in a lawsuit by former WWE employee Janel Grant, but it's only the latest in a string of allegations against the former Chairman of WWE and TKO, who also temporarily retired in 2022 after a company investigation into millions of dollars in hush money payments paid to multiple women became the subject of a report by the Wall Street Journal. Now, a previously unreleased statement by former WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro, who died of suicide in 2019, adds yet another accusation to the growing pile.

Vice obtained the statement from Massaro's lawyers, who did not include this portion of it in a 2018 lawsuit related to concussions.  In the statement, the late Massaro accuses McMahon of sexual harassment and reveals she told at least one former WWE executive, Kevin Dunn, about it. Dunn departed WWE suddenly earlier this year. The statement includes the redacted name of another wrestler who, Massaro claims, also saw McMahon allegedly attempt to sabotage her career for refusing to go along with sexual advances.

During my time with the WWE, I had observed Vince McMahon making-out with other divas in the locker room, but he never paid attention to me, and I assumed I was not his type. This changed after my Playboy cover was released. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to fly on the company jet and stay at the same hotels as the executives for a period of time so that I could get home faster to spend more time with my daughter. On one of these occasions, Vince was attempting to get me alone with him in his hotel room late at night and I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. He began calling the hotel room phone and my cell phone nonstop. I called Kevin Dunn to explain the situation and he said I should tell Vince I was not feeling well and would see him on TV the next day, so I did. Immediately after that night, Vince started writing my promos for me. Vince does not write promos for female wrestlers—that is the job of the creative department—and he certainly wouldn't have, under any normal circumstances, written a promo for me. But he did, and the promos were written with the clear intention of ruining my career. I brought the first script Vince wrote for me to the WWE employee in charge of Creative at the time, Michael Hayes, and he said, 'you're not saying this, who the [expletive] wrote this?' and I told him that Vince did. He said, 'Well kid, these are the breaks,' meaning that Vince wanted to end my career and destroy my reputation on my way out. He is known for this type of behavior and also did this to [REDACTED] upon her departure from WWE. In addition, after that night, each time I walk by him he would make vulgar sexual comments that were clearly designed to make me uncomfortable.

The late Massaro was also in the news recently when the lawyer of John Laurenitis, who is named in the lawsuit by Janel Grant against McMahon and WWE and accused of participating in sexual assault, admitted that Laurenitis knew about allegations Massaro was raped by a member of the U.S. armed forces during a WWE tour of Kuwait, and claimed that other top WWE executives also knew. WWE previously denied knowing about the allegations.

TKO, the parent company of WWE where McMahon served as Executive Chairman until his departure, has yet to comment on the new claims. However, in response to the initial lawsuit, the company tried to distance itself from the claims, issuing the following statement:

Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter predates our TKO executive team's tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant's horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.

However, the claims by Laurenitis complicate matters, as do recent comments by former WWE Champion Ronda Rousey claiming McMahon would continue to run the company by proxy through longtime crony Bruce Prichard. Currenty company leadership, including head of creative Triple H, would seemingly prefer to move on quickly from the claims, but that may prove impossible with the company itself named in the lawsuit.

Despite paying millions in settlements and non-disclosure agreements, McMahon has denied all allegations against him, issuing the following statement when he stepped down from TKO:

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. I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.

However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately.

McMahon remains the subject of an ongoing federal investigation into the hush money payments and sex trafficking claims.

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