Former WWE Executive Chair Vince McMahon is firing back at some of the claims in the sex trafficking lawsuit that was filed against him on Jan. 25 by former WWE employee Janel Grant.
In the lawsuit, Grant accuses McMahon of trafficking her and subjecting her to “acts of extreme cruelty and degradation” during her employment at WWE between 2019 and 2022. Some of those alleged acts include him being “aggressive during sexual encounters,” even when she pleaded to stop, which she claims caused her pain. In one sexual encounter, he allegedly defecated on her head.
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She also claims that he “objectified and trafficked” her by demanding her to participate in threesomes and to send him “explicit photographs” that he allegedly shared with other men, promising them she would “do anything” they desired. Grant also revealed that McMahon would often send her “perverted messages” of her being subject to “sexual scenarios involving extreme pain and humiliation.” She also alleges that McMahon “created an environment of fear and secrecy” and would often warn her of “the grave consequences” of their sexual encounters being outed.
McMahon is now denying some of those allegations with a new set of accusations of his own. According to his legal representative, who spoke to SEScoops, Grant allegedly was “in love” with McMahon and consented to “rough sex” with him. She also allegedly wanted him to give her thousands of dollars for “clothes, plastic surgery, and other gifts.”
In the lawsuit, it states that Grant received gifts from McMahon such as a $2,000 Nordstrom gift card, $20,000 towards surgery, a 2022 BMW, etc.
The representative also claimed that McMahon was Grant's "best friend" and "wanted to have a future" with him after signing a nondisclosure agreement that was intended to keep their former relationship hidden from the public after they parted ways in 2022.
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In response to the McMahon's claims, Grant's attorney Ann Callis reiterated in an emailed statement to TheStreet that "the truth is laid out" in the lawsuit.
The accusations from McMahon come after he filed a motion to compel arbitration on April 23, which is when parties agree to settle a dispute outside of court. In the motion, he claims that Grant’s allegations are “salacious, false and defamatory” and that their relationship was “consensual,” and he “never mistreated her in any way.”
The NDA that was signed between McMahon, Grant and WWE in 2022, reportedly contains an arbitration clause, but in Grant’s lawsuit, she claims that the NDA is“legally unenforceable” since it was “entered into through coercive tactics.”
On May 14, McMahon released an additional statement to support the motion to compel arbitration he filed.
Related: New names have been revealed in Vince McMahon’s sex trafficking lawsuit
“Should the Court find it necessary to conduct a hearing on any issue, Defendant respectfully reserves his right to introduce additional evidence that bears on witness credibility, sophistication, state of mind, and similar issues,” reads the statement.
The lawsuit has had a domino effect on McMahon’s career and the future of WWE. Days after the lawsuit was filed in January, McMahon resigned from the board of directors of WWE’s parent company TKO, seemingly wiping his hands clean of any involvement at WWE. It was also revealed that McMahon was selling the last of his TKO stock shares late last month, which will make him about $776 million richer if the sale goes through, before that he sold $1.365 billion worth of TKO stock since November.
WWE also ushered in a “new era” at WrestleMania 40 last month, which was the first WrestleMania without any influence from McMahon.
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