A previously unreleased statement from Ashley Massaro has been released, alleging further sexual misconduct from Vince McMahon.
[Trigger warning: The following article contains distressing details]
Former WWE talent Ashley Massaro tragically passed away in 2019 aged 39 years of age, with the cause of death being ruled a suicide.
Prior to Massaro’s death, the former wrestler was part of a class action lawsuit against the company in 2016, which alleged that WWE was responsible for the cause of neurological issues that happened to multiple Superstars who were performing in the ring. The lawsuit claimed that WWE was negligent.
Following Massaro’s death, an affidavit was made public which alleged that WWE attempted to cover up Massaro being sexually assaulted at a military base while taking part in an overseas visit in 2007. Massaro’s horrifying statement detailed the assault and was told to not speak up as it would harm the company’s relationship with the military.
WWE issued a statement in response to Massaro’s affidavit to deny having any knowledge of the sexual assault.
A new statement that was previously unreleased has been issued to VICE News by lawyers Konstantine Kyros and Erica Mirabella, who represented Massaro and a number of wrestlers in the aforementioned lawsuit. Mirabella tells VICE that the statement was left out of the affidavit as it was not relevant to the concussion lawsuit:
“Our colleagues ultimately decided we should focus only on the sexual assault and physical in-ring injuries Ashley sustained,” Mirabella said, “so I discussed this with Ashley and she agreed that we could remove it, so it was deleted. We then finalized the affidavit, she signed it, and we submitted it to the court.”
The statement that has been recently made public details how McMahon would express no interest in Massaro until her Playboy photoshoot was released. Following this, McMahon attempted to get Massaro in a hotel room alone with him, which was rejected. After this, McMahon would write promos for Massaro with the intention of ruining her career.
The full statement reads as follows:
During my time with the WWE, I had observed Vince McMahon making-out with other divas in the locker room, but he never paid attention to me, and I assumed I was not his type. This changed after my Playboy cover was released. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to fly on the company jet and stay at the same hotels as the executives for a period of time so that I could get home faster to spend more time with my daughter.
On one of these occasions, Vince was attempting to get me alone with him in his hotel room late at night and I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. He began calling the hotel room phone and my cell phone nonstop. I called Kevin Dunn to explain the situation and he said I should tell Vince I was not feeling well and would see him on TV the next day, so I did.
Immediately after that night, Vince started writing my promos for me. Vince does not write promos for female wrestlers—that is the job of the creative department—and he certainly wouldn’t have, under any normal circumstances, written a promo for me. But he did, and the promos were written with the clear intention of ruining my career.
I brought the first script Vince wrote for me to the WWE employee in charge of Creative at the time, Michael Hayes, and he said, ‘you’re not saying this, who the [expletive] wrote this?’ and I told him that Vince did. He said, ‘Well kid, these are the breaks,’ meaning that Vince wanted to end my career and destroy my reputation on my way out. He is known for this type of behavior and also did this to [REDACTED] upon her departure from WWE. In addition, after that night, each time I walk by him he would make vulgar sexual comments that were clearly designed to make me uncomfortable.
Ashley Massaro’s Lawyer Discusses Vince McMahon Lawsuit
The previously unreleased statement is the latest accusation of sexual misconduct directed at Vince McMahon. Following the allegations by former WWE employee Janel Grant that accused Vince McMahon of sexual misconduct and sex trafficking, more and more information has been made public as McMahon is also the subject of a federal investigation. The lawsuit stems beyond McMahon, with John Laurinaitis and multiple unnamed top executives implicated in the 67-page lawsuit.
In a previous interview, Ashley Massaro’s lawyer commented on the toxic WWE culture and allegations directed at Vince McMahon.