Disney employs hundreds of thousands of people around the globe — from the employees who work at its studio lots in places like Burbank, California, to the cast and crew that work on its dozens of films and television shows, to the tens of thousands of Cast Members who work at its theme park. While Disney does its best to employ people who truly emphasize the Disney magic, sometimes people slip through the cracks. That appears to have happened recently when they employed someone who has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
Recently, a photo went viral of pro wrestler Joseph Meehan — professionally known as Joey Ryan — working at Disney’s World Famous Jungle Cruise at Disneyland Park. The account that snapped the photo — The Ringside Roster — tagged Disney and said that Ryan was fired from his job with Impact Wrestling because he had been accused of sexual assault.
The photo was picked up by The Los Angeles Times, which reached out to Disney to ask about Ryan’s employment. Per The L.A. Times:
A former professional wrestler who has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct worked briefly on the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland before he was recently dismissed, park officials said Wednesday.
Joseph Meehan, known in the wrestling world as Joey Ryan, worked for the theme park for about three months in a probationary status until Disneyland declined to hire him as a full-time employee, according to Disneyland officials.
“Mr. Meehan is no longer employed by us,” a Disneyland spokesperson said, declining to elaborate on why he was not given a permanent job and whether the harassment allegations played a role in that decision.
The theme park’s screening process for potential employees includes a criminal background check, but Disneyland officials said that check did not alert them about the harassment accusations against Meehan, under his stage name, that appeared in social media posts, wrestling fan sites and sports blogs in recent years.
Meehan has worked as a professional wrestler since 2000 and was one of the founding members of the Pro Wrestling Geurilla. He has denied all of the sexual assault allegations brought against him and has filed at least seven libel and slander lawsuits against his accusers. However, The L.A. Times found that he had either dropped the suits or not pursued them, with one being dismissed by a judge.