Vince McMahon, founder of WWE, is now facing a lawsuit with allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking of a former employee.
McMahon, himself now a former employee of WWE, is alleged to have “abused and sexually exploited” Janel Grant. As shared via Variety, he is said to have “trafficked her to other men ‘as a pawn to secure talent deals’ with prospective wrestlers the company was recruiting.”
The publication adds that Grant “filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut Thursday naming McMahon, WWE and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis as defendants.”
“The lawsuit alleges McMahon, Laurinaitis and WWE violated the Trafficking Victims Prevention Act, and includes claims of civil battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in relation to years-long sexual and emotional abuse Grant said she endured as an employee of WWE,” Variety continues.
“The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages as well as a declaratory judgment that a nondisclosure agreement Grant signed while she was a WWE employee is ‘void and unenforceable, and does not bar any of Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants McMahon and WWE.'”
The disturbing allegations made against McMahon additionally claim that he “repeatedly used sex toys named after other WWE employees, westlers and performers to sexually groom Ms. Grant for trafficking to those same people.”
Another legal complaint adds that he “would shower Ms. Grant with gifts and empty work promotions, while at the same time threatening her livelihood and her reputation if she wouldn’t succumb to his increasingly depraved sexual demands, including disseminating pornography of Ms. Grant to ‘thousands’ of individuals and engaging in sex acts with other WWE employees — some of whom were complete strangers.”
A number of extremely explicit text messages were also shared due to the new sex trafficking lawsuit:
More on the new sex trafficking lawsuit via The Wall Street Journal:
Janel Grant’s lawsuit alleged that she met Vince McMahon in March 2019 & was looking for a job after her parents had died.
McMahon recruited people to have sex with Grant as well, including WWE’s former head… pic.twitter.com/ESA9uOcB4r
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 25, 2024
In addition to these allegations, another example of McMahon’s alleged “extreme depravity,” said to have taken place on May 9, 2020, alleges that McMahon “defecated on Ms. Grant during a threesome, and then commanded her to continue pleasuring his ‘friend’ – with feces in her hair and running down her back – while McMahon went to the bathroom to shower off.”
Eventually, McMahon’s wife is said to have learned of his relationship with Grant. She was then “abruptly pressured to resign from the WWE and forced to sign an NDA days before a major financial deadline for the organization under the guise that Mr. McMahon would ‘protect her’ financially and reputationally, and pay her $3 million. However, Mr. McMahon later refused to make payments to Ms. Grant, falsely claiming that she had leaked information to the press,” the suit adds.
Though Grant was eventually paid $1 million by McMahon in February 2022, the lawsuit adds that he “failed to make any further payments.”
Grant’s attorney, Ann Callis, released the following statement:
“Today’s complaint seeks to hold accountable two WWE executives who sexually assaulted and trafficked Plaintiff Janel Grant, as well as the organization that facilitated or turned a blind eye to the abuse and then swept it under the rug. She is an incredibly private and courageous person who has suffered deeply at the hands of Mr. McMahon and Mr. Laurinaitis. Ms. Grant hopes that her lawsuit will prevent other women from being victimized. The organization is well aware of Mr. McMahon’s history of depraved behavior, and it’s time that they take responsibility for the misconduct of its leadership.”
This all comes as Netflix recently announced a new partnership with WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holdings. TKO released a statement, saying:
“Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter predates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
They began a $5 billion deal in which WWE Raw will be aired on Netflix beginning in 2025. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the future of WWE and the lawsuit against Vince McMahon.