The court case involving Vince McMahon, WWE, and Janell Grant is on pause, but that’s because the Department of Justice is now looking into McMahon. In a sealed finding today, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York presented material to the federal court of a probe they have opened into Vince McMahon, WWE, and the ex-head of WWE Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.
The former WWE staffer Janell Grant filed the case based on years of assault and abuse she was allegedly subject to by McMahon and others at WWE. Here’s a filing that Damien Williams made that sheds some light on the DOJ’s involvement in the case.
“In addition to counsel already of record, please enter my appearance as counsel for the United States of America, Sarah Mortazavi, Assistant United States Attorney,”
Grant’s attorney confirmed that the DOJ move is significant enough to stop the original case for now.
“Ms. Grant has consented to a request by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to stay her case against Mr. McMahon, WWE and Mr. Laurinaitis, pursuant to a pending non-public investigation. We will cooperate with all appropriate next steps.”
A Section Of The Original Story On Vince McMahon’s Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct And Abuse
According to Grant’s lawsuit, McMahon and Laurinaitis — on WWE property and using WWE funding — both engaged in sexual assault and trafficking of Grant “both for their own pleasure and as a pawn to secure talent deals with prospective wrestlers they were recruiting.” McMahon “repeatedly used sex toys named after other WWE employees, wrestlers and performers to sexually groom Ms. Grant for trafficking to those same people,” per the suit.
According to the suit, McMahon “would shower Ms. Grant with gifts and empty work promotions, while at the same time threatening her livelihood and her reputation if she wouldn’t succumb to his increasingly depraved sexual demands, including disseminating pornography of Ms. Grant to ‘thousands’ of individuals and engaging in sex acts with other WWE employees—some of whom were complete strangers.”
According to the lawsuit, after McMahon’s wife learned of the relationship, Grant “was abruptly pressured to resign from the WWE and forced to sign an NDA days before a major financial deadline for the organization under the guise that Mr. McMahon would ‘protect her’ financially and reputationally, and pay her $3 million. However, Mr. McMahon later refused to make payments to Ms. Grant, falsely claiming that she had leaked information to the press,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit also alleges some extreme depravity on the part of McMahon and Laurinaitis. “he 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 lawsuit says.
In June 2021, according to the suit, Vince McMahon and Laurinaitis “sexually assaulted Ms. Grant inside Laurinaitis’ office” at WWE’s Stamford, Conn., headquarters. “Behind a locked door, the two men cornered her and pulled her in between them, forcibly touched her, before ultimately putting her on top of a table in between them,” the lawsuit states. “She begged them to stop, but they forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying ‘No means yes’ and ‘Take it, b*tch.’”
We’ll keep you updated on this story as we get more information.
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