Former WWE paralegal Janel Grant has indicated that she plans to modify her blockbuster lawsuit against the wrestling company, its CEO Vince McMahon and former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
The changes are expected to be made by January 15, almost exactly a year after they were filed in federal court in Connecticut on January 25, 2024, according to Post Wrestling.
The original lawsuit, which contains graphic details, alleges that McMahon and John Laurinaitis violated the Trafficking Victims Prevention Act and inflicted years of sexual and emotional abuse upon Grant.
It remains unclear what specific changes Grant plans to make in her amended complaint. She joined WWE’s legal department in 2019, after befriending McMahon.
In the suit, Grant alleges that in June 2021 she was locked in an office in the WWE HQ where McMahon and another executive took turns in raping her.
“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 reads, per the Associated Press.
“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****.’”
The suit also claims that McMahon used sex toys named after other WWE employees, wrestlers and performers to sexually groom Grant for trafficking to those same people.
Grant claims she suffered bruising and bleeding from the toys and that during the alleged sexual assault, in a moment of ‘"extreme depravity,” McMahon defecated on her.
In March 2020, McMahon was also accused of sharing nude content of Grant with other employees including "a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract (and ultimately did sign that contract),” according to the suit.
During these negotiations, Grant’s phone number was given to the star who was told "she’ll do anything” upon request. The star asked Grant, who was by this point “numb”, for a video of herself urinating, which she sent.
That same month McMahon had expressed a desire to meet Grant for sex but a snowstorm reportedly prevented the two from ever meeting.
The experience left Grant "experiencing increasingly severe physical, mental and emotional symptoms, including sleep disruption, dizziness, exhaustion, rashes, weight loss, hair loss and migraines." McMahon then referred Grant to his own “celebrity doctor” and paid $20,000 to a surgeon for her.
Grant signed an NDA in January 2022 following constant pressure from McMahon, who claimed that his wife Linda had learned of the relationship.
However, the $3 million payments that Grant had agreed to ultimately stopped being paid to her after just $1 million.
At the time of the original lawsuit, a spokesperson for McMahon said: “This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself.”
Laurinaitis issued a similar statement via his lawyers.
McMahon stood by his comments but announced he was resigning from the WWE just two days after Grant filed her lawsuit.
During a press conference on September 19, Callis said: “Janel is a human being who deserves justice. She deserves her day in court. That’s our bottom line. She’s a victim and a survivor. She’s not a WWE storyline.”
The Independent has reached out to representatives of McMahon and WWE for comment on the planned amendment to the lawsuit.
