SUMMARY
- WWE founder Vince McMahon faces severe accusations of s*x trafficking, physical and emotional abuse, and s*xual assault in a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant.
- In response to the lawsuit, McMahon and TKO Group Holdings issued a statement denying all allegations.
In a shocking series of events, WWE founder Vince McMahon has been accused of s*x trafficking and misconduct. McMahon, who bought WWE from his father back in 1982, can be single-handedly given the credit for the company’s success. He stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2022 and is the current Executive Chairman of WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holdings. However, the lawsuit is likely to put a major blemish on McMahon and WWE’s image.
Former WWE employee Janel Grant accused Vince McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, s*xual assault, and trafficking on Thursday, January 25. Grant, who worked at the company from 2019 to 2022, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Besides McMahon, another WWE executive John Laurinaitis has been named as the defendant.
A woman who received a payout from WWE boss Vince McMahon has accused McMahon, the company and a former executive of sex trafficking in a new lawsuit that raises questions about the breadth of an internal company probe conducted by a law firm last year.
Janel Grant, a former… pic.twitter.com/8JzLU7HFlr
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 25, 2024
However, hours after Grant’s lawsuit, Vince McMahon and TKO Group Holdings issued a statement. McMahon’s team has vehemently denied all allegations and has labeled Grant’s words to be full of lies and a distortion of reality. A spokesperson said, “This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth.”
Moreover, the spokesperson also stated that McMahon would defend himself against Grant’s lawsuit. In addition to this, TKO Group Holdings has also responded to the allegations. A spokesperson of the company said that it would look into the allegations and the lawsuit with utmost seriousness. However, the spokesperson didn’t mention anything about McMahon’s future at TKO Group Holdings.
Janel Grant breaks her NDA agreement with her lawsuit against Vince McMahon
According to the reports, Janel Grant had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Vince McMahon months before she left WWE. McMahon had reportedly promised Grant a payment of $3 million but has only paid $1 million to date. By filing the lawsuit, Grant has broken the non-disclosure agreement. However, Grant’s lawsuit contains very vivid and graphic details of the s*xual abuse and intimidation she suffered.
THREAD 1/2 (TW):
Screenshots of Vince McMahon’s messages from the new sex trafficking lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/pqx78GHSwU
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 25, 2024
Grant mentioned that she was often greeted by McMahon while he was in his underwear. She had joined the company in 2019 when she was unemployed and had suffered the loss of her parents. While she did manage to rise through the ranks rapidly, it came at the cost of being s*xually abused by McMahon. She accused McMahon of blackmailing her with her intimate pictures and videos and even defecating on her on one occasion.
She also accused McMahon and John Laurinaitis of taking turns and r*ping her in a locked office. Lastly, she admitted that McMahon had forced her out of the company in 2022. The WWE co-founder had told Grant that since his wife had found out about their relationship, Grant had to leave the company.
Brock Lesnar allegedly forced Janel Grant to send him graphic videos of herself
Meanwhile, alongside Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis, WWE superstar Brock Lesnar has also been caught in the crossfire of the lawsuit. As revealed by Grant in the lawsuit, McMahon had forced her to send Lesnar personalized s*xual content. While Grant’s lawsuit doesn’t explicitly name Lesnar, it described him as a UFC and WWE fighter, which made it easy for people to connect the dots.
With regards to the new sex trafficking lawsuit:
In July 2021, the suit said, Vince McMahon instructed Grant to create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar that he was trying to re-sign. The suit didn’t name the professional wrestler, but described him as both a UFC… pic.twitter.com/Fj5UJGu7X5
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 25, 2024
McMahon had reportedly sent Brock Lesnar Grant’s intimate photographs which was liked by the 46-year-old fighter. McMahon had also told Grant that a part of Lesnar’s new WWE contract was that he could sleep with her. Lastly, Lesnar had also demanded that Grant send him a video of herself urinating. She was also supposed to meet him for a date, but it was fortunately disrupted by a snowstorm.
