The bombshell lawsuit that alleges sex trafficking against Vince McMahon and others was first reported in the Wall Street Journal Thursday only three days after WWE and its parent company TKO were on the New York Stock Exchange announcing a major deal with Netflix. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson joined other stars like McMahon and his son-in-law Triple H to announce the major deal and ring the bell to open trading. It was a blue ribbon day for the company and appeared to foreshadow good things for the company.
However, all the positive news was quickly erased on Thursday with the horrific allegations laid out in the lawsuit that allege McMahon, a top WWE executive John Laurinitis and others sex trafficked the woman Janel Grant while she was an employee at WWE.
The lawsuit alleges Grant lost her parents in 2019 and happened to live in the same apartment building as McMahon’s penthouse duplex. It reads: “The building’s Resident Manager wanted to help. She messaged McMahon to ask whether he would talk to her, sharing that Ms. Grant had been through hardship and would do great things if given a fresh start. McMahon enthusiastically responded, ‘Hell Yes!!’”
It goes on: “As McMahon dangled career-making and life-changing promises in front of Ms. Grant, he demonstrated an increasing lack of boundaries. During several meetings that were ostensibly about a potential job at WWE, he greeted her in his underwear, touched her, repeatedly asked for hugs, and spent hours sharing intimate details about his personal life.”
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Eventually McMahon did hire her and the allegations quickly deteriorate into much cruder and reprehensible behavior. They include allegations that he shared graphic photos and videos of her with other employees and “McMahon recruited individuals to have sexual relations with Ms. Grant and/or with the two of them.”
In one instance during an alleged “threesome” the lawsuit claims McMahon defecated on Grant’s head.
Grant alleges McMahon defaulted on a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she signed in 2022 where he was supposed to pay her $3,000,000 for her silence. However, she claims he stopped paying after $1,000,000.
This is one excerpt of the lengthy NDA: “Grant agrees, represents, and warrants that, as of the date of this Agreement is signed, she will not disclose, discuss or reveal any claims against, or information about, McMahon, her relationship with McMahon, WWE, or any employees or independent contractors of WWE.”
Following the release of the lawsuit McMahon resigned his position as head of WWE and its board of directors. While he still holds a sizeable amount of stock.
“I stand by my prior statement that Ms Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” said McMahon in a statement that’s been widely circulated. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.”
He added with respect to his resignation: “However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately.”
This controversy comes months after new surfaced that McMahon was served with a federal subpoena and search warrant. No details were released of the nature of that investigation. And it was only made public because it appeared in a WWE filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). McMahon denied any criminal wrongdoing in that instance.
It also comes a couple years after McMahon left the company following allegations of paying former female employees hush money to keep affairs secret.
McMahon returned to the company when news came out that WWE was merging with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) last year. They formed the new umbrella company TKO, with McMahon and WWE owning 49% of the company while UFC and its top man Ari Emanuel held the dominant position. However, McMahon had the company’s structure set up where he could never be forced out of the company.
The Going Ringside podcast spoke with Gene Nichols, a veteran Florida defense attorney to analyze this case.
Nichols covered multiple issues including whether McMahon, Laurinitis or WWE could face a criminal investigation. “There are allegations in the civil lawsuit that could become criminal,” said Nichols. He said whatever law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the lawsuit was filed would have to review. He added any internal investigation WWE or TKO conducted is irrelevant to law enforcement.
One other thing he added was that because this is a civil lawsuit it could be publicly messy for WWE and TKO. In criminal lawsuits prosecutors are limited in what they can enter into evidence during the discovery phase of the trial. However, in civil lawsuits the evidence allowed is a lot more broad. That means inside details of WWE’s operation could become public. Nichols also said any WWE employee or contractor (i.e. famous wrestlers) could be subpoenad if they witnessed McMahon or Laurinitis’ interaction with Grant.
“Every wrestler that you have ever reported on on this podcast is probably going to end up with a subpoena,” Nichols told host Scott Johnson. “Every wrestler that everybody knows who has been involved in WWE and has been there at a high level for the last decade that you know about are probably going to be in a courtroom at some point in time.”
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