Ashley Massaro accused Vince McMahon of preying on female WWE wrestlers
Before her death, former WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro gave a statement accusing Vince McMahon of sexually preying on her and other women’s wrestlers.
The previously unreleased statement was published by Vice News on Friday. It was collected by Massaro’s lawyers Konstantine Kyros and Erica Mirabella in 2017 as part of a sworn affidavit in their lawsuit against WWE regarding the company’s handling of concussions. In the affidavit, Massaro alleged that she was drugged and raped by someone posing as a military doctor on a base in Kuwait during a WWE tour in 2006. Massaro claimed that McMahon apologized for what she went through, but McMahon urged her not to disclose the incident because it would ruin WWE’s relationship with the military.
“He told me not to let one bad experience ruin the good work they were doing,” Massaro said.
Massaro’s claim that McMahon preyed on female wrestlers wasn’t included in the sworn affidavit. Her attorneys “ultimately left it out because it wasn’t relevant to central claims in the lawsuit in which they were representing her, which concerned concussions.”
Massaro alleged that McMahon wrote promos “with the clear intention of ruining [her] career” after attempting to get her alone with him in his hotel room late at night. Massaro rejected the advance, telling McMahon she wasn’t feeling well.
“In addition, after that night, each time I [walked] by him he would make vulgar sexual comments that were clearly designed to make me uncomfortable,” Massaro said.
Massaro stated that McMahon was known for this type of behavior. Her statement that was obtained by Vice News can be read below:
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.
Massaro, 39, died of suicide in May 2019. She was with WWE from 2005-2008.
WWE claimed after her death that McMahon and WWE management were never informed of Massaro’s rape allegation against the person posing as a military doctor.
Earlier this week, Edward Brennan, John Laurinaitis’ lawyer, told Vice News that upper WWE management was aware of the rape allegation. Laurinaitis claimed that proper protocols were followed and there was no cover-up.
Vice News reports that the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service opened an investigation into Massaro’s allegation in June 2019. Their investigation was closed in January 2020, but further information has not been made public.