A new appointment in the Trump government is causing a stir. Appointed to head Education, Linda McMahon is the target of a complaint accusing her of having allowed sexual abuse of children.
From wrestling queen to Minister of Education, Linda McMahon dreamed of a success story American style. But since Donald Trump's call to join his future government, the spotlight on this 76-year-old personality has revealed a much darker phase of his personality. Linda McMahon co-founded the production company World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which specialized in organizing wrestling events, with her husband, wrestler Vince McMahon, in 1980.
Together, they largely contributed to popularizing wrestling, notably by transforming each evening of fights into real entertainment. In the late 90s/early 2000s, Linda McMahon even entered the ring in person on several occasions and gave of herself to increase the show's ratings. American viewers always remember that day when, with a small suit jacket and moccasins on her feet, the American exchanged a few slaps with her daughter, until she made the latter fall in the ring.
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A “classic” for the future Minister of Education who was regularly filmed hitting her children, Jennifer and Shane McMahon (also a wrestler), in rings, recalls Fox News. And that's without counting the time she appeared, literally getting knocked out by former wrestler Glenn Thomas Jacobs or the time she came to hit her husband in the ring while the latter was fighting against… their son. Real entertainment American style!
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Accused of having turned a blind eye
But, CNN recalls that Linda McMahon is the target of a complaint, filed at the end of October in Baltimore County on behalf of five alleged victims, which accuses her of having “knowingly permitted the sexual exploitation of children by an employee of the WWE.” According to the complaint, of which “The Independent” has become aware, the presenter Melvin Phillips Jr. allegedly used his position within the WWE to recruit teenagers aged 12 or 13 as “ring boys” (people responsible for setting up the rings) and allegedly “sexually abused” them. Acts that the man allegedly committed “in front of the wrestlers and managers, in the locker room”. The complaint also alleges that in some locations, defendants provided Phillips with a private dressing room “where he used his own expensive video camera (extremely rare at the time) to film his sexual encounters with the children.”
Phillips lured and manipulated young boys with promises of meeting famous wrestlers and attending highly popular wrestling shows, experiences that were otherwise inaccessible to these children.
Complaint filed against Melvin Phillips Jr.
The McMahons, WWE and TKO Holdings (the wrestling league) “allowed Phillips and others to engage in and enable WWE's rampant culture of sexual abuse,” the report reads. the complaint. And if Vince McMahon (from whom Linda McMahon is now separated) admitted that “he and his ex-wife already knew, as early as the early to mid-1980s, that Phillips had a special and unnatural interest” in young boys, the mother denies the facts. “This civil lawsuit based on allegations dating back more than thirty years is filled with lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon,” said her lawyer, Laure Brevetti.
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However, CNN recalls that Phillips' alleged abuse at WWE was reported by the “New York Post” as early as 1992. Journalists then claimed that the McMahons fired the accused in 1988 after allegations that he sexually exploited children surfaced. Before rehiring him 6 weeks later, on the condition that he “stays away from children”.
Her ex-husband accused of rape
Linda McMahon's now ex-husband, Vince McMahon, paid compensation of several million dollars to a former employee who accused him of rape in 2023 and was sued for “sex trafficking” in this early 2024. He is also the subject of a federal investigation for “sexual assault”. None of these lawsuits should, however, have any impact on Linda McMahon.
No experience in Education
From 2009, Linda McMahon turned more towards politics. She served a year on the Connecticut Board of Education (her only experience in the field) and tried twice to run for Senate. The Republican had contributed $6 million to Donald Trump's first campaign and was rewarded with an advisory position in his government. In 2020, she took the lead of an important support committee and she also invested heavily in the last campaign.
