A WWE star claimed that Vince McMahon preyed on female wrestlers and destroyed her profession after turning down his advances in an affidavit shortly before killing herself, in keeping with bombshell report.
Ashley Massaro, who accused the disgraced wrestling mogul and other WWE executives of covering up her alleged rape on a military base in Kuwait while on tour in 2006, committed suicide in 2019.
In a previously unreleased statement she gave to her lawyers before her death, which was obtained by VICE News, Massaro alleged that McMahon propositioned her for sex.
The statement was not included in a lawsuit Massaro and others filed against the WWE since the case concerned concussions, Vice reported Friday.
Nonetheless, it resurfaced just days after federal authorities launched an investigation into sex trafficking allegations leveled against McMahon by a former WWE staffer, Janel Grant, who suit the longtime wrestling kingpin last month.
McMahon, who resigned as chairman and CEO of WWE within the wake of Grant’s lawsuit, has denied Grant’s allegations.
Ashley Massaro, a former WWE star, died by suicide in 2019. Getty Images
The Post has sought comment from McMahon, WWE and TKO Group, the newly formed entity that was formed with WWE’s majority owner Endeavor.
Massaro’s statement before her death painted a terrifying image of McMahon as a sexual predator.
“I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable,” Massaro said, alleging that McMahon repeatedly called her to ask her to come back to his hotel room alone late at night.
“He began calling the hotel room phone and my cellular phone nonstop.”
Massaro alleged that she was sexually harassed by Vince McMahon. KEN BABOLCSAY-GLOBE PHOTOS, INC.
Massaro, who joined the WWE in 2005 and was released in 2008, alleged that she saw McMahon “making out” with female wrestlers within the locker room and that he sexually harassed her.
When she rejected his overtures, Massaro alleged that McMahon wrote demeaning scripts for her to perform.
Massaro alleged that the scripts were designed to destroy her fame and endanger her profession.
Her sworn affidavit also alleged that McMahon and one other WWE executive named in Grant’s lawsuit, John Laurinaitis, told her to maintain quiet about an alleged rape that took place on a US Army base in 2006.
Massaro also accused McMahon of covering up an alleged rape. Mediapunch/REX/Shutterstock
Massaro alleged that she was drugged and raped by a person who claimed to be a US Army doctor while she was on tour with WWE in Kuwait in 2006, in keeping with a sworn affidavit released by her attorney following her death five years ago.
“The girl guarded the door while the person proceeded to inject me with a drug that caused me to be unable to maneuver my body or to scream,” Massaro alleged within the affidavit.
“The person then proceeded to violently rape and sodomize me.”
Massaro said that she “was completely helpless to defend myself against this attack because the drug he injected rendered me temporarily paralyzed.”
McMahon is under federal investigation after a former WWE staffer filed suit accusing him of sex trafficking. Zuffa LLC
John Laurinitis, a former WWE executive, can be alleged to have covered up the 2006 rape. WWE
“Despite being unable to manage my movements, I remained fully conscious for each second of the attack,” she alleged.
The Naval Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) launched an investigation into Massaro’s claims. That investigation was closed in 2020, in keeping with VICE News.
Massaro alleged in her affidavit that McMahon, Laurinaitis and other executives at WWE offices in Stamford, Conn., told her to maintain quiet concerning the incident in order to not jeopardize the corporate’s relationship with the US military.
Massaro said that she reported the rape to a WWE doctor, who then told “WWE executives who soon thereafter met with Massaro to apologize for his or her negligence but persuaded her that it will be best to not report it to appropriate authorities.”
In court papers filed in 2016, WWE called Massaro’s allegations “stale and baseless,” and denied Massaro had ever reported a sexual assault to anyone affiliated with WWE, in keeping with Vice.
Vince McMahon is seen with wife Linda McMahon in Recent York in 2013. WireImage
Laurinaitis’ lawyer, Edward Brennan, told VICE News, “Any allegations that Mr. Laurinaitus helped to cover up an alleged rape allegation is an outright lie.”
“Johnny, like most upper level management at sometime became aware of the allegations and ensured all proper WWE protocols were followed, including privacy for the alleged victim. We object to using the term cover-up as no such plan or plot ever took place to cover or assist within the alleged rape.”
When you are scuffling with suicidal thoughts, you’ll be able to dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
