One of the lawyers in the Ring Boys case has responded to comments made by Vince McMahon’s lawyer.
Jessica Rosenburg commented on the new case saying the claims against McMahon and the WWE were already proven to be false years ago.
“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,” she said.
Greg Gutzler, an attorney representing the “Boys” claims that information is not the basis for the new case.
“If you read the 81-page complaint, you are going to see multiple facts, myriad facts, dozens of facts that have nothing to do with Phil Mushnick. We had the fact that we 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 he was even provided his private dressing room in certain areas. You have the FBI videotape, where the FBI said — the behavioral science unit said — this is consistent with pedophilia and sexual foot fetishes,” he said.
Gutzler also claims that McMahon hired Mel Phillips back after firing him stating he had to stay away from children.
WWE, Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon and TKO Group Holdings are being sued by five alleged victims named John Does 1 to 5.
The suit states: “The underaged Ring Boys were groomed, exploited, and sexually abused by Phillips, who targeted children from broken homes. His sexual assaults occurred not only at wrestling venues but also in hotel rooms and other locations where Phillips would shuttle the boys in plain sight. Defendants were fully aware of the systemic and pervasive abuse and did nothing to prevent or stop it.”
Melvin Phillips Jr. hired the boys to assist with errands around the company. He has since passed away.