Linda McMahon, Trump’s education pick, was sued for allegedly enabling child sexual abuse

A recent lawsuit alleges that Linda McMahon, whom President-elect Donald Trump appointed to head the Department of Education, knowingly facilitated the sexual abuse of children by a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee back in the 1980s – allegations she denies.

McMahon is the former CEO of WWE, which she founded with her husband Vince. As head of WWE, Linda McMahon oversaw its transformation from a wrestling entertainment company to a publicly traded media empire. In 2009, she stepped down to run for the Senate, but lost in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012.

While McMahon – who co-chairs Trump’s transition team – is seeking the nomination to become education secretary, a recent lawsuit raises questions about her concern for the safety of children in WWE.

The lawsuit alleges that McMahon, her husband, WWE and TKO Group Holdings, the league’s parent company, knowingly allowed employee Melvin Phillips Jr. to using his position as a ring announcer to sexually abuse children.

The filing alleges that Phillips recruited children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events. But the job was a pretext for sexually abusing children, which Phillips committed even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker room, the lawsuit alleges. Records show that he frequently filmed himself sexually abused.

The lawsuit was filed in October in Baltimore County, Maryland, on behalf of five John Does who claim they were between 13 and 15 years old when Phillips met them and recruited them to work as “Ring Boys.” Each of them claims that they suffered mental and emotional violence as a result of the alleged abuse.

“Phillips lured and manipulated young boys by promising to meet famous wrestlers and attend highly popular wrestling shows, which would otherwise be unattainable to these kids,” the lawsuit alleges. “(The McMahons, WWE and TKO Holdings) allowed Phillips and others to engage in and support the rampant culture of sexual abuse within WWE.”

The lawsuit alleged that the McMahons were negligent as employers and failed to protect the plaintiffs, who are seeking more than $30,000 in damages.

Phillips worked for WWE in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as a “prominent ring announcer and crew chief.” He died in 2012.

The lawsuit states that both Linda and Vince McMahon were aware of Phillips’ harassment. According to the records, Vince McMahon admitted that he and Linda had been aware since the early to mid-1980s that Phillips had a “peculiar and unnatural interest” in young boys.

Laura Brevetti, Linda McMahon’s lawyer, called the allegations false.

“This civil lawsuit based on allegations dating back more than three decades is full of disgusting lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations about Linda McMahon,” Brevetti said. “SM. McMahon will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit and will no doubt ultimately succeed.”

Brevetti also told CNN that Linda and Vince McMahon “are separated” and have been apart “for some time.” Jessica Rosenberg, Vince McMahon’s lawyer, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the matter. Rosenberg – he said in a previous statement that the allegations contained in the lawsuit are false.

WWE did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Decades of allegations

Phillips’ alleged harassment in WWE was reported by the New York Post back in 1992.

“It was common knowledge within WWE – among ring crew, wrestlers and executives – that Phillips surrounded himself with a group of underage Ring Boys, including when he traveled across state lines and stayed in hotel rooms with children,” the lawsuit reads. claims.

The lawsuit says the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 after allegations that he sexually abused children continued to surface. “They rehired him six weeks later on the condition that he ‘stay away from the children,’ but with the McMahons’ knowledge he continued to sexually abuse young boys,” according to the lawsuit.

“After decades of suffering in silence from childhood trauma, survivors are now coming forward to hold defendants accountable for their conduct that allowed systemic and pervasive harassment at the hands of Philips,” the lawsuit alleges.

No one was held criminally responsible.

In 2023, the Maryland Child Victims Act went into effect, repealing the statute of limitations on certain civil lawsuits related to child sexual abuse. The legislation recognizes that “victims of childhood sexual abuse often wait years before disclosing it to others due to mental and emotional trauma,” said Greg Gutzler, a partner at DiCello Levitt, which represents the plaintiffs along with Murphy, Falcon and Murphy. .

Linda McMahon worked in Trump’s first administration as administrator of the Small Business Administration before stepping down in 2019 to chair a pro-Trump super PAC. She is also co-founder and board chair of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank.

Allegations of human trafficking and sexual harassment have been circulating about Vince McMahon for some time. In 2023, Vince McMahon paid a multi-million dollar amount settlement a former employee who accused him of rape, and he stepped down as executive chairman of TK Holdings this year amid allegations of sexual assault and human trafficking. He denied the allegations.

Recently, Vince McMahon has been the subject of a federal criminal investigation and a separate lawsuit in federal court in Connecticut. The case was postponed this summer until early December. The McMahon investigation is also ongoing in New York, although according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation, it does not involve any legal risk for Linda McMahon, who left WWE more than a decade ago.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. Vince McMahon’s lawyer declined to comment on the investigation.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report

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