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A former WWE employee suing the company and its former CEO, Vince McMahon, made graphic new allegations in a filing in U.S. District Court in Connecticut earlier this week.
Janel Grant, who filed her first lawsuit against WWE, McMahon and former executive John Laurinaitis, detailed more claims about how she was allegedly recruited to work for WWE, the alleged “abuse” she suffered while WWE executives did nothing and other claims.
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Vince McMahon, Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., appears in the ring during the WWE Monday Night Raw show at the Thomas & Mack Center on August 24, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Laurinaitis had already been removed from the trial.
PK Press Club Digital has reached out to McMahon’s attorney and WWE for comment.
Grant, who worked at WWE from June 2019 to 2022, alleged that she was “subjected to repeated physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and sex trafficking perpetrated” by McMahon and that “most senior officials and talent knew about and facilitated the abuse” she suffered.
“Instead of protecting Ms. Grant, WWE and McMahon conspired to use its coercive control over her to cover up the wrongdoing of its executives and prevent Ms. Grant from speaking out or seeking help,” the lawsuit states.
Grant alleged he had “rough” sex with McMahon and others.
“Throughout these three years, the sexual relations were violent, invasive, degrading and caused injuries that could not heal because there were routinely subsequent violent encounters, often involving other men or objects,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Grant did not press charges regarding his abuse because she was living in a state of duress and was entirely under McMahon’s control, with her survival ultimately depending on her total submission to McMahon.”
WWE owner Vince McMahon enters the arena during WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium on April 3, 2022 in Arlington, Texas.
(Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)
DASHCAM VIDEO SHOWS VEHICLE REAR OF FORMER WWE MANAGER VINCE MCMAHON ON CONNECTICUT HIGHWAY
Grant claimed in the lawsuit that McMahon pressured her to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and that he allegedly sexually assaulted her after she signed the document.
These sordid allegations are part of an ongoing lawsuit between the parties.
McMahon resigned as CEO of WWE in 2022 and left TKO in 2024 after the initial lawsuit was filed. He maintained his innocence throughout the process.
“The outrageous allegations of sexual abuse and coercion contained in the Complaint are pure fiction – clearly intended to generate publicity – and are categorically contradicted by Plaintiff’s own contemporaneous statements,” McMahon said in an April 2024 filing. “Contrary to Plaintiff’s false allegations, Plaintiff and Defendant (collectively, the ‘Parties’) engaged in a consensual relationship during which Defendant never coerced Plaintiff into doing anything and never mistreated her in any way.
“In fact, in a love letter that Plaintiff wrote to Defendant shortly before the parties ended their relationship, Plaintiff described Defendant as “[m]your best friend, my love and my everything,” praising him for being “the wonderful, tender, vulnerable, heart-on-your-sleeve soul that you truly are.” It is incredulous that the plaintiff, a then 42-year-old woman who claims on her resume to have a law degree from Pace University, wrote these words to the defendant months after all of the events in the complaint regarding alleged abuse, coercion, and “sex trafficking” took place.
TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon appears during a ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on January 23, 2024, announcing that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has joined the TKO board of directors. (Michelle Farsi/Zuffa LLC)
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The TKO Group told the Associated Press in January 2024 that it took Grant’s allegations “very seriously.”
“Mr. McMahon does not control TKO or oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE,” the company said at the time. “While this matter predates our TKO management team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
