Ashley Massaro saw Vince McMahon act inappropriate with women and made her uncomfortable, a previously unreleased statement from the late wrestler claims.
Before her death in 2019, Massaro claimed that she had been sexually assaulted during an overseas tour for WWE, but that the company pressured her to keep quiet. WWE management has always denied any knowledge of Massaro's claim. This month, a representative for former WWE executive John Lauriniatis has claimed that higher-ups were aware of the alleged incident.
Ashley Massaro's Statement
The Massaro allegations have received new attention given the ongoing lawsuit against Vince McMahon by former WWE employee Janel Grant. In a previously unreleased statement now shared by Vice, Massaro alleges that McMahon was inappropriate with women, including herself following her Playboy magazine release.
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.
Massaro claims that her attempts to rebuff the Chairman led to McMahon making efforts to sabotage her career.
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.
McMahon wasn't just satisfied with trying to sabotage Massaro's career, as the late wrestler claims he would also be inappropriate when passing.
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.
McMahon has denied all allegations against him made in Janel Grant's lawsuit. John Lauriniatis has claimed that he is a victim, not a predator, in this situation.