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Vince and Linda McMahon Named in New 'Ring Boy' Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against WWE

WWE founders “knew or should have known” about employee who allegedly assaulted teen employees in 1980s, per five new John Does who have come forward.

“Thanks to the extraordinary courage of our clients, we now have the opportunity to hold accountable the WWE, and its leaders for the last 40-plus years, Vince and Linda McMahon, who enabled the rampant abuse of these young boys,” attorney Greg Gutzler told Rolling Stone in a statement. The only ring boy known to initiate legal action in 1992 was Tom Cole, but he settled with WWE in exchange for a $55,000 settlement and a new job; a 1993 suit after Phillips was fired was dismissed for reasons that aren’t clear from the public record. The Journal also later reported that, in late 2022, seemingly motivated by a demand letter and New York’s Adult Victims Act lifting the statute of limitations, he paid a settlement “in the millions of dollars” to former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, who alleged that McMahon raped her in 1986.

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