Sartaj Singh
‘Mr. McMahon’ is a Netflix docu-series following the rise of Vince McMahon as the driving force behind the WWE, and shines a light on many of the darker scandals faced by him and the organization. One of the most troubling exposés made against them was Mel Phillips and two other employees being accused of sexual assault against minors. Mel Phillips was a ring announcer who was accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate sexual contact with underage boys. The boys were usually displaced youth hired as ring boys to set up and take down the wrestling ring. When former ring boys revealed Phillips’ inappropriate behavior in a draft complaint, the ring announcer was fired.
Mel Phillips Had Allegedly Been Given a Second Chance
The scandal broke out when former ring boys Terry Garvin and Chris Loss went public with allegations of sexual misconduct aimed at Mel Phillips, Terry Garvin, and Pat Patterson. They went to the San Diego Union-Tribune and drafted a complaint against the individuals and WWF with their lawyers. Mel Phillips had spent the most time with the ring boys as he was in charge of watching over them and had allegedly made sickening use of his power to coerce them into sexual acts.
Mel Phillips, along with Terry Garvin and Pat Patterson, were fired from the WWF following the allegations made by Tom Cole and Chris Loss. Cole alleged that Phillips had a foot fetish and would record his feet while massaging his crotch with them. He also alleged that the ring announcer carried out similar activities with many of the other ring boys leading up to the sexual assault. The charismatic voice of the WWF was accused of being very different behind closed doors. Another witness and former ring boy, Shawn, would later come forward and back the assertions further, claiming that most of the wrestlers at the time knew of Phillips’ foot fetish and reputation for underage boys.
Faced with a potential sexual harassment case against his company, Vince McMahon called New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick and gave him an account of their history with Mel Phillips. The WWF owner claimed that Mel Phillips had once been fired from his job because of his interest in underage boys. However, McMahon said that he had rehired the announcer after he had pleaded to let him back because he loved and missed wrestling too much.
The rehiring reportedly came with the condition that he stay away from the boys. Late WWE star Bruno Sammartino told Penthouse magazine that Phillips “was once spotted in the backseat of a car in Pennsylvania performing a sexual act on an 11-year-old boy. Vince McMahon was told about the incident, and he elected not to do anything.” Phillips was briefly suspended by the WWF a few years after the incident for committing a similar act.
Following Phillips’ firing, McMahon met with Tom Cole and his lawyer to work things out. The former ring boy and his family demanded further action, saying that firing Mel Phillips was not enough. McMahon said that he wanted to make things right and reportedly revealed that he sympathized with Cole, as he had faced abuse as a child himself. Cole professed he just wanted to work for the WWF and that it brought him great joy to be close to wrestling.
Cole was given a job at WWF’s crew department and $55,000 in back pay, and the lawsuit was dropped. In 2021, an unredacted FBI memo shone more light on the handling of the case at the time. According to the memo, the bureau knew of Phillips’ misconduct with underaged boys as they had video evidence of the same but sought to use Phillips against McMahon.
Mel Phillips Passed Away in 2012
Following his dismissal from the WWF and his public shaming, Mel Phillips retreated from public life. After the scandal, he was publicly never heard from again. Some of his memorabilia kept in a storage unit was sold on eBay when he defaulted on payments. In 2012, the once-booming WWF announcer passed away in obscurity, with no publications reporting on the cause of death. Tragically, Tom Cole took his own life in 2021, and his brother, Lee Cole, continues to investigate the scandal.
