Newly Released Statement From Ashley Massaro Has Accusations of Predatory Behavior From Vince McMahon

As previously reported, the late Ashley Massaro’s name is back in the news after the lawyer for John Laurinaitis responded to a 2019 affidavit from Massaro. In 2019, Massaro claimed that she was raped by someone posing as a doctor in the military during a 2006 goodwill tour by WWE in Kuwait and that WWE covered up the sexual assault. Laurinaitis’ lawyer objected to the term “cover-up,” but said Laurinaitis was aware of Massaro’s allegations at the time, along with “most upper-level management.” This contradicted a WWE statement from 2019 that said they were never informed of the alleged assault.

Now, Vice News reports that a previously unreleased statement from Massaro also has allegations against McMahon, who is himself now under federal criminal investigation for sex trafficking, rape and more. According to the unearthed statement, Massaro claimed that McMahon “sexually preyed” on female wrestlers and she was punished for turning him down by getting bad scripts that were meant to destroy her reputation. She gave the statement to her lawyers when preparing the affidavit that did get released.

The statement reads: “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.”

TKO did not comment, other than confirm that Michael Hayes currently works for WWE as a producer. VICE redacted the name of the other wrestler Massaro mentioned to protect her privacy.

The statement was obtained from Konstantine Kyros and Erica Mirabella, who represented Massaro and others of former wrestlers in a lawsuit seeking damages related to traumatic brain injuries.

Miarbella said the decision was made to focus on the sexual assault, which is why the statement was never public before now. She said: “Ashley was extremely detailed, thoughtful, and thorough throughout this entire process. Our colleagues ultimately decided we should focus only on the sexual assault and physical in-ring injuries Ashley sustained. 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.”

If you know someone who is being abused, or if you yourself a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Call 1-800-656-4673 to be connected with the National Sexual Assault Hotline