Following the death of former WWE star Ashley Massaro in 2019, an affidavit was released in which she claimed WWE covered up her sexual assault while on a military base in 2007. WWE issued the following statement in response to Massaro’s allegations:
“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.”
In an article on Vice.com, a statement was given by John Laurinaitis’ lawyer Edward Brennan in response to questions about Massaro’s accusations:
“Any allegations that Mr. Laurinaitis helped to cover up an alleged rape allegation is an outright lie. Johnny, like most upper level management at sometime became aware of the allegations and ensured all proper WWE protocols were followed, including privacy for the alleged victim. We object to the use of the term cover up as no such plan or plot ever took place to hide or assist in the alleged rape.”
