Vince McMahon, the CEO of WWE, is charged with human trafficking and sexual assault.
In a complaint, a former employee of the massive professional wrestling organization accused WWE CEO Vince McMahon of sexual assault, human trafficking, and physical and psychological torture.
A nondisclosure agreement that Janel Grant claims she signed with McMahon in 2022, when he promised to pay her $3 million, is being challenged in a federal court petition filed in Connecticut. Grant claims McMahon commanded her to have sex with a WWE “superstar” and other men.
McMahon only gave her $1 million, according to the lawsuit, “but failed to make any further payments.” Grant was one of many women who over time got compensation from McMahon.
The mixed martial arts organization UFC and WWE combined last year. TKO Group Holdings now owns both businesses.
A woman who once worked for the massive professional wrestling organization accused WWE leader Vince McMahon on Thursday of sexual assault, human trafficking, and physical and emotional abuse in a disturbing complaint.
The lawsuit filed by Janel Grant aims to nullify a nondisclosure agreement that Grant claims she signed with McMahon in 2022. Grant claims McMahon told her to have sex with a WWE “superstar” and other men. She alleged that as part of the arrangement, he promised to pay her $3 million.
McMahon only gave her $1 million, according to the lawsuit, “but failed to make any further payments.” Grant was one of many women who over time got compensation from McMahon.
The complaint was filed six months after McMahon was the subject of a grand jury subpoena and a search warrant executed by federal legal enforcement officers. The inquiry concerned McMahon’s alleged payment of millions of dollars to several women following allegations of sexual misconduct.
In March of last year, McMahon gave WWE $17.4 million to cover the expenses of a legal firm the business hired to look into the payouts.
The mixed martial arts organization UFC and WWE combined last year. TKO Group Holdings now owns both businesses.
McMahon serves as the executive chairman of the board of TKO, which declared on Tuesday that Netflix would pay $5 billion over a ten-year period to stream “Raw,” the main program of the WWE, as well as all other WWE specials and programming, outside of the US.
Ann Callis, Grant’s attorney, said in a 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.”
According to the lawsuit, in 2019 McMahon made friends with Grant, who lived next door in an apartment building, after finding out from the building’s resident management that Grant’s parents had passed away and that she was seeking employment.
Grant claims that she eventually gave in to McMahon’s push to enter a sexual relationship.
“When McMahon pushed Ms. Grant for a physical relationship in return for long-promised employment at WWE, she felt trapped in an impossible situation: submitting to McMahon’s sexual demands or facing ruin,” the lawsuit states.
Additionally, according to the lawsuit, “McMahon’s omnipotent position at WWE meant that coercion was inherent in his
progressively more heinous sexual demands.”
“Specifically, while McMahon was CEO of WWE and Ms. Grant was employed as an entry level coordinator in the legal department, McMahon 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,” according to the lawsuit.
Grant claims in the complaint that McMahon “extremely cruelly and degraded” her, making him “numb to reality to survive the horrific encounters.”
According to the lawsuit, McMahon informed Grant in January 2022 that he could not speak to her or be in the same room as her because his wife, Linda McMahon, had discovered their relationship.
Grant’s lawsuit aims to nullify the NDA and also accuses parties of negligence, deliberate or negligent infliction of emotional distress, and civil battery. It also violates the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
