A former WWE employee has filed a lawsuit against the entertainment company’s CEO, Vince McMahon, accusing him of abuse and sexual exploitation, which allegedly included forcing her into physical relationships and using her as a sexual “pawn to secure talent deals.”
The suit was filed in Connecticut on Thursday by Janel Grant, who worked in the company’s legal and talent departments. It also names WWE and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, who formerly wrestled under the name Johnny Ace.
“Ms. Grant hopes that her lawsuit will prevent other women from being victimized,” her attorney, Ann Callis, said in a statement. “The organization is well aware of Mr. McMahon’s history of depraved behavior, and it’s time that they take responsibility for the misconduct of its leadership.”
McMahon, who lived in Grant’s building at the time, initially offered her a job in 2019, shortly after her parents died. But his proposal did not come without seeming conditions, according to the lawsuit. While Grant initially believed she was building a professional relationship with the wrestling honcho, he soon made it clear she’d be required to engage in a physical relationship with him, Laurinaitis and others, including the show’s talent.
Grant felt pressured to comply, she said, especially as McMahon dangled “career-making and life-changing” promises in front of her. During her subsequent time with WWE, McMahon allegedly subjected Grant to acts of “extreme cruelty and degradation” causing her to “disassociate and/or become numb to reality in order to survive,” according to the lawsuit.
One particularly disturbing encounter in the lawsuit occurred in May 2020, when 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 — while McMahon went to the bathroom to shower off,” the complaint alleges. In another incident at WWE headquarters, Grant said both McMahon and Laurinaitis forced her behind a locked door and sexually assaulted her.
“She begged them to stop, but they forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying ‘No means yes,’” according to court documents.
McMahon also “repeatedly used sex toys named after other WWE employees, wrestlers and performers to sexually groom Ms. Grant for trafficking to those same people,” the suit said.
In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for McMahon said the lawsuit was “replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth.”
“He will vigorously defend himself,” the spokesperson added.
Grant is seeking unspecified monetary damages and to have the court void a $3 million nondisclosure agreement, of which she alleges she received only $1 million.
With News Wire Services
