Lawyer Konstantine Kyros commented on his experiences in representing Ashley Massaro and a number of WWE Superstars in light of the recent lawsuit and subsequent investigation of Vince McMahon.
[Trigger warning: The following article contains distressing details]
Massaro was employed by WWE from 2005 to 2008. In 2016, Massaro was part of a class action lawsuit against the company alleging that the company was negligent and responsible for neurological issues that happened in the ring and affected multiple performers. Massaro would tragically pass in 2019, aged just 39 years old. The cause of death was determined to be suicide.
Following Massaro’s passing an affidavit was made public that alleged WWE covered up Massaro being sexually assaulted while on an overseas tour in 2007 in Kuwait.
Massaro’s horrifying recount detailed that she was drugged, paralysed and sexually assaulted while at a military base. Upon returning to the United States, Massaro’s affidavit stated that she was told by multiple higher-ups to not report the events that took place as it would affect their relationship with the military.
When the shocking account of what happened to Massaro in Kuwait was made public after the former wrestler’s death, WWE issued the following statement, claiming to have no knowledge of the aforementioned assault:
At no time was Vince McMahon or the management of WWE ever informed by Ashley Massaro or anybody else that she had been sexually assaulted, drugged, raped or sodomized by a military doctor with a nurse standing guard while on a goodwill tour in 2007 to U.S. military bases in Kuwait. In fact, if she ever articulated such a claim to WWE, we would have reported it immediately to the Base Commander.
At no time was there ever a meeting with Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinaitis or other company executives in which she told them of such a claim and was instructed to keep it quiet.”
Konstantine Kyros Comments On Recent Vince McMahon Allegations
On January 25th, Vince McMahon was accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The disturbing 67-page lawsuit alleges McMahon, John Laurinaitis and multiple top employees being involved in multiple disturbing incidents, highlighting a toxic culture that starts at the top and has made its way through the company.
While appearing on NewsNation, Kyros recalled his experiences of representing Massaro against WWE in relation to the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant:
“We were arguing that it was a totally unregulated workplace and she had put that into a submission that was required by a federal judge in Connecticut. It was an affidavit sworn under the penalties of perjury given to a federal judge,”
In regards to whether or not the military launched an investigation on the events detailed by Massaro, Kyros responded that no investigation took place as “effectively, the issue was covered up.”
Reacting to the details of the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant, Kyros responded as follows:
“This doesn’t come as any surprise to the followers of Vince or the WWE. The culture was toxic. The sexual exploitation was just part of the overall control. The wrestlers function in an in-group subculture where they’re governed by a code of silence called kayfabe. This basically prevents people from speaking out because they’ll lose their jobs and livelihoods. My understanding, from Ashley, and I think this is well-known to anybody with remote familiarity of the ins and outs of WWE. I believe the allegations were Mr. McMahon himself was commonly seen kissing the Divas in the rooms and so forth.
When she rejected his advances, she met the fate of many other wrestlers, which was that her career was going to come to an end, and that’s essentially what happened. In addition to these horrific allegations that she made, it’s important for viewers to understand that the wrestlers have been exploited and injured for decades by McMahon. She had very common orthopedic injuries, she had very serious injuries to her neck, where she had herniated discs. This type of lack of any engagement with their healthcare, the health crisis that wrestlers are in when they suffer these horrendous injuries, and then they end up, unfortunately, in some cases, taking their own lives because they have, in many cases, undiagnosed (injuries).”
Vince McMahon is currently under federal investigation by the authorities.
H/t to Fightful.