Ring Boys Attorney Responds To Vince McMahon Statement On New Lawsuit

Greg Gutzler of DiCello Levitt, the lead attorney representing five former WWE ring boys in a new lawsuit against WWE, Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, and TKO Group Holdings, has responded to a statement issued by Vince McMahon's attorney Jessica Rosenberg.

The lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, Maryland on Wednesday alleges that Mel Phillips groomed, exploited, and sexually abused underage ring boys. The lawsuit also claims the defendants were "fully aware" of the abuse carried out by Phillips and did nothing to prevent or stop it.

Following the filing of the lawsuit, Vince McMahon's attorney Jessica Rosenberg denied the allegations and targeted Phil Mushnick, writing:

"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."

Speaking on Pollock & Thurston, Greg Gutzler has issued his own response to Rosenberg's comments:

"If you read the complaint you are going to see multiple facts, myriad facts, dozens of facts that have nothing to do with Phil Mushnick. So what do we have? We have the fact that you had Mel Phillips shuttling young boys in plain sight in front of WWE executives and wrestlers from state to state. You have him in plain sight, staying in hotel rooms with young boys. You have in plain sight, Mel Phillips engaging in sexual foot fetishes in the ring, in front of people in the locker room, in front of wrestlers and executives. He was even provided with his own dressing room in certain areas.

"You have the FBI videotape where the FBI said, the Behavioral Science Unit said, this is consistent with paedophilia and sexual foot fetishes. You have Vince McMahon never denying that he told people that Mel Phillips had a peculiar and unnatural interest in young boys. You have the fact that Vince and Linda McMahon fired Mel Phillips in 1988 for engaging in the improper activities with young boys, and hired him back with the caveat of 'steer clear of the kids,' the clear acknowledgement that they knew that Mel Phillips engaged in improper activities with young boys. It was there in plain sight.

"And anybody who has a child or anybody with a moral compass would recognise when you put all of these facts together, you've got a major problem. And this person should not be hanging around young boys, certainly with the aura and the power of being affiliated with the WWE in a public-facing role as the ring announcer.

"So when you look at all of these things, this has very little to do or nothing to do with Phil Mushnick. And I should note that the defamation lawsuit - truth is a defence, and Phil Mushnick and The New York Post paid $0 to the WWE. They walked away from that case because what they knew is that Mushnick told the truth, and there was ample other evidence outside of what Mushnick reported that show this is absolutely true. And the WWE and Vince and Linda McMahon knew it. And you also have the testimony of at least a dozen wrestlers and executives that talked about seeing it in plain sight and telling Vince McMahon, and he said, 'I'll take care of it.'"

Ring boys were underage boys who used to help set up the ring at WWE events. The ring boy crew was headed by Terry Garvin, while Mel Phillips worked under him. Both men stopped being employed by WWE in 1992 following accusations levelled by Tom Cole, a former ring boy.

The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $30,000.

H/T Brandon Thurston