A close friend of former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro has commented on how the company handled Massaro’s allegations of sexual assault.
[Trigger warning: The following article contains details that some readers may find distressing]
Massaro tragically passed away in 2019, with the cause of death being ruled as suicide. After Massaro’s death, an affidavit was made public by Massaro’s attorney who was representing the former Diva and a number of stars in a concussion lawsuit against WWE.
The statement from Massaro detailed her visit to a US military base in Kuwait while taking part in an overseas tour. While at the base, Massaro’s affidavit describes in disturbing detail how she was temporarily paralysed, raped and sodomised by a man posing to be a doctor. Upon returning to the United States, Massaro informed higher-ups about the horrifying incident including Vince McMahon. The affidavit states that McMahon did apologise but instructed Massaro to not disclose the incident as “it would ruin the relationship between WWE and the US military.”
On January 25th 2024, Vince McMahon was accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The 67-page lawsuit graphically depicts multiple abhorrent actions that spotlight a toxic culture throughout the company and implicates multiple executives. With McMahon’s previous behaviour being thoroughly analysed in light of the allegations, Cara Pipia, a friend of Massaro, spoke with NewsNation to discuss the WWE environment at the time and how the company handled Massaro’s allegations.
Pipia noted that Massaro had become addicted to the painkiller Soma and that it was willingly handed out in the locker room:
“When Ashley first started working for the WWE, she told me that in the locker room, they handed out Soma like it was candy. Soma, it’s a muscle relaxant. So it is what they’d give the wrestlers when they were injured because there was no not wrestling. You had a broken arm, you take a soma and you wrestle.
“And at that point [when the assault happened] she had become addicted to Somas. So she was already in this state, and whatever they administered to her rendered her helpless. Her body was useless to her but her mind was there and she saw what was happening.”
Massaro’s affidavit contains additional details that the former WWE star’s ticket home had gone missing and Massaro was left alone in Saudi Arabia despite the alleged sexual assault. Pipia also confirmed that Massaro travelled back after others had already departed:
“They got her a flight, days after everyone was already home. She was left alone. Because they had to go back to work. Vince wanted them back in the USA because they had work to do.”
When Massaro’s affidavit was released, WWE released a statement denying that they had any knowledge of the events that took place in Kuwait. Pipia described how Massaro did speak with Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon on multiple occasions, describing the board room meetings as threatening:
“She spoke with Vince McMahon many times. Vince had his daughter [Stephanie] take his place because she was a female, a woman, and to make Ashley comfortable. And they just played with her. They played with her because everything that Stephanie said made her feel comfortable. Safe. As soon as they walked into this board room meeting, Ashley was on her own completely. And she was threatened, and there was no… there was no compassion. There was no sympathy. There was nothing.”
In the interview, Pipia stated that Massaro did have support from those within the company, but those individuals had no power:
“Right before she walked into that boardroom, she talked to the locker room doctor who was aware of everything and she was actually very sympathetic to her but he had no pull. He gave her the advice that he could, but that was it.”
Former Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, who is explicitly named in Janel Grant’s lawsuit, has since made a statement via his attorney that Vince McMahon was aware of Ashley Massaro’s allegations. In response to Laurinaitis’ statement, Pipia said the following:
“It’s about time somebody had a conscience. Because there was never a single moment of time that I didn’t believe a word that Ash had told me.”
When asked about what Pipia would say to Vince McMahon, Pipia let her feelings be known about the disgraced former Chairman and the company as a whole:
“‘Shame on you. How do you look at yourself?’ Obviously, he’s got problems. Obviously, he’s a sexual deviant. He needs help, he’s not well. The problem is that people with that kind of sickness and that mindset are power, why do they thrive for so long?
“Why doesn’t anybody stand up? Why are there so many people in that company aware of what’s going on to all these women? Women who keep committing suicide year after year after year. And nobody stands up and says anything. Nobody tries to protect these young women? Why? Because it’s not just Vince, it’s the whole frickin’ company!”
As the interview came to a close, Pipia was asked if the alleged assault contributed to Massaro’s suicide in 2019, to which Pipia responded “99%. Absolutely.”
Previously Unreleased Ashley Massaro Statement Made Public
In February 2024, Massaro’s attorneys released a previously unseen statement to the media. The reason why this was not released until 2024 was that the lawsuit Massaro was part of was in relation to concussions and the statement was not relevant to the case. The statement accuses Vince McMahon of preying on WWE talent and how Ashley Massaro was punished for rejecting his advances.
H/t to SEScoops.