Paul London Recalls Vince McMahon’s Harassment Of Ashley Massaro
One of the more tragic stories in wrestling over the last several years was the passing of former WWE star Ashley Massaro in 2019, only days before her 40th birthday. Massaro had worked for WWE from 2005 to 2008, and during that time, was involved with fellow wrestler Paul London, who she managed along with his tag team partner, Brian Kendrick.
In a recent appearance on "Cafe de Rene with Rene Dupree," London talked about his reaction to Massaro's untimely death.
"It took me by surprise, too," London said. "I had received a message from a friend of mine in England who just said, 'I'm so sorry about Ashley.' I said 'What?' I don't know what's going on. That's how I found out. [It was] very upsetting and a very sad ending for her, because at her core, [she was] genuinely a very friendly, bright, and sweet person who everyone, for the most part, got along with in the locker room."
The conversation then took a turn when London revealed some troubling interactions between Massaro and then-WWE CEO and chairman Vince McMahon to a shocked Dupree.
"I do remember, specifically, many times when she would be crying to me because Vince was propositioning her to fly on the jet with them," London said. "Kevin Dunn, Bucktooth Bucky, would be telling her that she has to fly on the jet with them ... Every now and then, they'd always put the Divas up at like the TV hotel or whatever, he'd be knocking on her door and trying to get her to answer."
While Massaro never made allegations against McMahon while she was alive, she was involved in a 2016 concussion lawsuit against WWE, where she would claim in an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that she was raped by a member of the US military while on tour for the company in 2006, and that upon being informed of the situation, McMahon advised her that "it was not in the best interest of the WWE for [Massaro] to make the information about [her] attack public." The lawsuit was later dismissed and the Supreme Court declined to take it up for appeal, while WWE denied that company management had any knowledge of Massaro's assault or instructed her to keep it quiet. After the affidavit was released publicly following Massaro's death, WWE would also claim that Massaro apologized to the company in writing for her involvement, though this apology has not been made public.
London's statements come at a time when all eyeballs are on McMahon once again following two Wall Street Journal stories regarding alleged payments of more than $12 million to several women to cover up affairs and potential accusations of sexual misconduct. London has very little trouble believing McMahon was capable of such indecencies.
"I'm shocked this Vince stuff is just now coming out," London said. "I haven't looked up on a lot of it ... but I'm surprised it hasn't come out within the last 10 years. But that just goes to show how afraid people are of the power dynamic where they're so fearful of losing their job. What does that say about you, if you're protecting this 90-year-old f*cking corpse with a thong tan line, just because he's a billionaire?"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Cafe de Rene with Renee Dupree and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription