Editing WWE (section)

===1990s ring boy scandal===
{{Main|Ring boy scandal}}
During the early 1990s, Mel Phillips, WWF's ring announcer and ring crew head, was accused of molesting multiple "ring boys", under-aged children that worked as part of the WWF ring crew.<ref name=BIallegations>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/wwe-cofounder-linda-mcmahon-who-runs-trumps-biggest-super-pac-once-hired-a-suspected-child-molester-on-the-condition-that-he-stop-chasing-after-kids-he-didnt-/articleshow/78938854.cms |title=WWE cofounder Linda McMahon, who runs Trump's biggest super PAC, once hired a suspected child molester on the condition that he 'stop chasing after kids.' He didn't. |work=[[Business Insider]] |date=October 29, 2020 |accessdate=February 25, 2024 |author=Bixenspan, David}}</ref> In 1992, Phillips was fired from the WWF.<ref name=BIallegations /> Phillips had previously been temporarily dismissed from the WWF in 1988 for sexual misconduct, but was brought back that same year.<ref name=BIallegations />

On October 29, 2020, it was reported by ''[[Business Insider]]'' that Vince McMahon and his wife [[Linda McMahon|Linda]] were aware of the allegations against Phillips but willfully [[Turning a blind eye|turned a blind eye]] to them. According to [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] requests for court records regarding the ring boy scandal, Vince, under oath, stated that he was aware that Phillips had taken a "peculiar and unnatural interest in children" but refused to take action against him.<ref name=BIallegations /> Further testimony revealed that Vince, after bringing Phillips back to the WWF in 1988, had made Phillips promise to "stop chasing after kids".<ref name=BIallegations /> It was also reported by ''Business Insider'' that, under Vince and Linda McMahon's directive, the WWF began a campaign to discredit Tom Cole, one of the children who had accused Phillips of sexual misconduct, and Cole's family.<ref name=BIallegations /> In response to the ''Business Insider'' report, Jerry McDevitt, WWE's attorney, stated that the accusations against Phillips were related to his unusual "foot fetish" but did not include "anything approximating conventional forms of sexual abuse such as rape, sodomy, etc."<ref name=BIallegations /> He additionally described the claims that the McMahons knew about the accusations against Phillips but refused to take action and continued to employ him under the condition that he "stop chasing after kids" as "outlandish" and "classic libel".<ref name=BIallegations />

Tom Cole died in February 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://prowrestling.net/site/2021/02/13/tom-cole-dead-at-age-50-key-accuser-in-the-wwe-wwf-ring-boy-scandal/ |title=Tom Cole dead at age 50, key accuser in the WWE/WWF Ring Boy scandal |work=Pro Wrestling Dot Net |author=Powell, Jason |date=February 13, 2021 |accessdate=February 25, 2024}}</ref>