WWE founder Vince McMahon is being sued by a former employee who accuses him and WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis of sexual assault and trafficking — just days after the WWE signed a landmark, $5 billion distribution deal with Netflix.
According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit details years of McMahon’s alleged abuse and “depraved sexual demands.” The lawsuit was filed by Janel Grant, the previously unnamed WWE employee who McMahon paid off to keep their relationship private. As the outlet reports, the hush-money payment was uncovered in an internal investigation, leading to McMahon to step down from the company in 2022.
“Given McMahon’s omnipotent position at WWE, coercion was inherent in his increasingly depraved sexual demands,” the lawsuit states.
Grant worked in the legal department as a coordinator. The lawsuit states that, while McMahon served as CEO of the company, he “recruited individuals to have sexual relations with Ms. Grant and/or with the two of them, directed Ms. Grant to visit Defendant Laurinaitis prior to the start of workdays for sexual encounters, and expected and directed Ms. Grant to engage in sexual activity at the WWE headquarters, even during working hours.”
The lawsuit also details multiple “horrific encounters” Grant had with McMahon and Laurinaitis.
Grant alleges that on May 2020, 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.”
In another instance in June 2021, the lawsuit alleges McMahon and Laurinaitis “forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other.”
In 2022, after McMahon’s wife learned of their relationship, he convinced Grant to sign the $3 million NDA that would eventually lead to his departure from the company.
As Rolling Stone reports, Grant was able to file the lawsuit because McMahon failed to comply by the NDA’s terms, including making the payments. The NDA is also considered unenforceable under the Speaks Out Act.
“The severe restrictions of the NDA have created a wedge in all of Ms. Grant’s relationships and left her in a perpetual state of isolation, as her family has passed away and she cannot (and does not) lean on the support of the community due to the NDA’s restrictions,” the lawsuit added.
If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.
