Janel Grant files to amend her lawsuit, accuses Vince McMahon and WWE using her 'like a commodity'

(TW: sexual abuse) 

Late on Friday, attorneys for Janel Grant filed a motion to amend her lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Lauirnaitis, and WWE on the last day that they were able to do so. Her team added new evidence including text messages and voice memos from McMahon. They say this evidence shows that McMahon treated Grant as a commodity to sexually abuse her and offer to other men. 

In a press release, Grant’s attorneys provided additional details to the lawsuit. The full amended lawsuit can be seen here.

·   McMahon offered Ms. Grant to WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar for a sexual encounter during his formal negotiation of a new contract with WWE, and McMahon ordered Ms. Grant to send Lesnar sexually explicit content of herself.

·       McMahon sent a text message to Ms. Grant, where he fantasizes in graphic detail about watching as a group of men are “surrounding” her and leaving her physically “wrecked."

·       A text message from McMahon to Ms. Grant where he makes clear that only McMahon has the power to “arrange” Ms. Grant’s sexual encounters.  

·       An occasion where McMahon video recorded Ms. Grant while nude for Laurinaitis, without Ms. Grant’s knowledge or consent. 

·       Details about the investigation WWE proclaimed to conduct in 2022 after it became public that McMahon signed NDAs with multiple women, in which “investigators” refused to interview Ms. Grant.

·       The transcript of a voice message from McMahon to Ms. Grant, where he attempts to coerce her into signing an NDA “really f***in’ fast” so he doesn’t get kicked out of his own “f***in’ company.”

The initial complaint, filed in January 2024, includes a text message from McMahon to Ms. Grant where McMahon admits, “i’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f*** U.”

Ann Callis, Grant’s attorney released the following statement: 

 “Ms. Grant’s amended complaint reveals new details that further demonstrate the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis and pulls back the curtain on the dangerous workplace culture McMahon created at WWE. Ms. Grant looks forward to holding her abusers accountable in a court of law.”

Earlier in January, her team filed a motion to extend time to amend the lawsuit to include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling against McMahon. With the SEC’s ruling and fine of McMahon, Grant’s team believed that the NDA should not stand. They also asked for a status conference. 

McMahon’s team filed a motion of opposition to ask for the status conference to be denied and asked for the case to go to arbitration. The new judge, Sarah F. Russell, denied the conference status and arbitration. She ruled that Grant’s team had until January 31 to seek an amendment. She also ruled that the stay that was originally requested last June has been formally lifted.

Identities of WWE employees formally revealed 

The amended lawsuit is 104 pages and formally reveals the identities of Corporate Officer Number 1 as WWE President Nick Khan, former WWE COO Brad Blum as Corporate Officer Number 2, Stephanie McMahon as Corporate Officer Number 3, and former head of WWE’s legal department, Brian Nurse as Corporate Number 4. They had previously been identified by Tim Marchman, John Pollock, and Brandon Thurston. 

WWE Employee Number One has been identified as Rich Hering. Before his retirement, he was a longtime employee and very loyal to the company as he worked with McMahon’s father, Vincent J. McMahon. He wasn’t accused of abuse, but was someone to be feared due to company loyalty. In 2021, he received WWE’s Warrior Award. 

Brock Lesnar was formally identified as the WWE Superstar who Grant alleges McMahon offered her to. Dr. Carlon Colker was also formally identified as the celebrity doctor at Peak Wellness who treated her at McMahon’s behest and also provided a lawyer for Grant to use to get an NDA at McMahon’s urging. 

McMahon offers Grant in negoations with Brock Lesnar

The lawsuit states that McMahon was actively negotiating to keep Lesnar in WWE when he offered Grant to him for a sexual encounter. Lesnar eventually did sign a new contract. She was ordered by McMahon to fly to Greenville, South Carolina “even if it’s just to C Brock.” 

McMahon and Lesnar made plans for Grant to go to Connecticut where Lesnar would be appearing at the Mohegan Sun. Lesnar sent Grant his hotel information, but a snowstorm changed Lesnar’s travel plans. Grant backed out due to weather and COVID-19. 

McMahon also tried to arrange a sexual encounter with Lesnar while he was in New York for a live event at Madison Square Garden. This was after McMahon had directed her to get an NDA. 

In the lawsuit, it is stated that “McMahon actively requested, directed, encouraged, insisted, and ultimately conditioned Ms. Grant to create and send sexually explicit content during, but not limited to, writers’ meetings, production meetings, while running live television broadcasts in “gorilla position,” and while on the corporate jet traveling both domestically and internationally. McMahon even knowingly solicited and received Ms. Grant’s sexually explicit content while being filmed for a global streamer.” It also states that McMahon noticed when Grant did not comply. 

Another name was revealed in the amended lawsuit. Grant alleges that McMahon urged her to create sexually explicit content for former wrestler and longtime WWE employee, Michael Hayes. Hayes works as producer and has been instrumental in the Bloodline storyline. McMahon also directed her to make content for the production crew under Hayes as well as construction workers. Photos of texts from McMahon and explicit photos are included in the lawsuit. 

After McMahon began offering Grant to John Laurinaitis, she was moved to Talent Relations. A custom corner office suite was created to “Laurinaitis’ taste” and shared an office wall with current COO, Paul Levesque. At the time, Levesque was the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development. Grant’s office had an internal door that connected directly to Laurinatis’ office and also had a badge lock installed outside her office door. The lawsuit states that the office – “where Grant would ultimately be exploited” – was built with the input of Khan and Blum.

McMahon pressues Grant to sign an NDA

In January 2022, McMahon advised Grant to hire an attorney for an NDA. He told her to ask Colker for an attorney referral. According to the lawsuit, she only obtained counsel for eight days and in that short time, he expressed concern about Grant obtaining an NDA so quickly. 

Later in the month, McMahon would pressure her to get the NDA done faster due to the deadline approaching from the Audit Committee and the WWE Board of Directors. Grant tried to back out of the agreement several times, but McMahon demanded that she go through with it due to “the extreme repercussions that he and WWE would face if she didn’t sign the NDA.”

The lawsuit includes a transcript of a voice memo from McMahon demanding that she sign the NDA. In the voice memo, McMahon says “In any event, on the agreement stuff, we have to do it and here’s why – ummm because there’s a new twist in this fuckin' thing – wow is this ever gunna end? – so there’s an audit committee. It’s a public company and if we don’t get this done by the 31st I’m fucked because McDevitt is in charge of the legal.”

“He’s got to tell the audit committee there’s no lawsuits, there’s no pending this, there’s no that – kind of like thing – and he won’t do and can’t do it legally unless I get this thing signed. So we need to work on this really fuckin’ fast otherwise I’m double fucked.”

Fearing that McMahon would release intimate content publicly and use whatever narrative he saw fit, Grant was ultimately coerced into signing the NDA, according the filing. It also stated that in the weeks leading up to signing the NDA, Grant’s mental health deteriorated as she felt she would never be free of McMahon or WWE and signed the NDA under duress. 

In response to the motion to amend the lawsuit, McMahon’s attorney Jessica Rosenberg released the following statement to B.J. Bethel of SEScoops: “As expected, the proposed amended complaint is nothing more than the latest publicity stunt in an ongoing smear campaign. It is filled with desperate falsehoods from a team that continues to disregard the law and the truth.”

McMahon, along with his wife Linda, WWE, and TKO Holdings are currently named in a lawsuit brought by five former WWE “Ring Boys” who allege the McMahons knew of the sexual abuse they received from the late Mel Phillips, a former announcer. The lawsuit is currently being stayed.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic and dating violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE. The National Human Trafficking Hotline can be reached at 1-888-373-7888. The National Sexual Assualt Hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).