Tag: John Lauranitis

Janel Grant has amended her lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE.

Attorneys for Grant filed a motion on Friday to amend Grant’s complaint alleging that McMahon both sexually assaulted and sexually trafficked her while she was an employee for WWE, with Laurinaitis becoming a participant all while WWE knew of what was going on.

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

BREAKING: Janel Grant's attorney filed an amended complaint against @VinceMcMahon, @JohnLaurinaitis & @WWE, with new evidence that Ms. Grant was treated as a sexual commodity at the company.

Statement from Ann Callis, Attorney for Janel Grant: pic.twitter.com/wbbEVCllkJ

— WWE Survivors (@WWESurvivors) February 1, 2025

The amended suit, which can be read here, includes new text messages, voicemail transcripts, and other new evidence detailing the alleged abuse:

• After not being named in the original lawsuit, Brock Lesnar’s name is now mentioned multiple times, including a part in the suit where it is alleged McMahon offered a sexual encounter with Grant to Lesnar as part of contract negotiations. The suit also alleges that Grant was ordered to send Lesnar sexually explicit content of herself.
• Also, Nick Khan (WWE Corporate Officer No. 1)  and Brad Blum (WWE Corporate Officer No. 2)’s names now appear.
• A new paragraph says that Grant did not feel free to quit her job and walk away. “Immersion in the Legal department demonstrated to Ms. Grant the highly reactive, even retaliatory, nature of WWE such that she felt increasingly trapped,” the suit said.
• The lawsuit alleges that while McMahon was openly sharing explicit content of her with others, he also attempted to conceal his behavior by addressing WWE emails referring to Grant as “Thomas Grant.” There are also new text messages that show McMahon telling Grant what other men said they wanted to do to her.
• A new text message from “in or about September 2020” had McMahon allegedly texting Grant to “create customized pornographic content for producer Michael Hayes and his crew.”
• A new claim describes McMahon video calling Laurinaitis and proceededing to record Grant while she was nude without her consent.
• The suit alleges that when Grant moved to Talent Relations, WWE constructed a new custom corner office suite “to Laurinaitis’ taste” that shared a wall with Paul Levesque (Triple H)’s office. The office had an internal door that “connected directly into Laurinaitis’ office,” the suit alleged. Khan and Blum were allegedly involved with the planning of this office.
• The suit now has a transcript of a voice message McMahon left for Grant repeatedly asking her to sign the NDA, at one point saying that “we need to work on this really f***in’ fast otherwise I’m double f***ed.”
• It also acknowledges Jerry McDevitt as the person McMahon referenced to Grant regarding a “high-powered attorney he had on speed dial.”
• According to the suit, Grant agreeing to the NDA was entered “under duress and/or as a result of fraudulent inducement engaged in by McMahon, and the same is void as a matter of law.”
• McMahon allegedly obtained Grant’s nude photos while being filmed for the ‘Mr. McMahon’ documentary that aired on Netflix last year.

McMahon’s attorney Jessica Rosenberg called the amended lawsuit a “publicity stunt” in a statement sent to B.J. Bethel.

“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,” the statement said.

Reps for Vince McMahon sent me the following statement from attorney Jessica Rosenberg on Janel Grant's amended complaint. pic.twitter.com/tLm2sZiwoP

— B. J. Bethel (@BJBethelTweets) February 1, 2025

After the initial lawsuit was filed last January, McMahon resigned from WWE and TKO. Earlier this month, he reached a settlement with the SEC after violating the Securities Exchange Act for failing to disclose previous settlement agreements to the WWE board.

The judge in the Janel Grant/Vince McMahon/WWE lawsuit has officially put the lawsuit on pause.

Judge Jeffery A. Meyer on Tuesday officially put Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE on pause after both sides agreed to pause the suit per a request from the Department of Justice as they continue a federal investigation regarding McMahon. The case will be put on pause for the next six months, meaning the lawsuit at the earliest won’t resume until December 11.

In a statement to Wrestlenomics, a spokesperson for McMahon said they did not object to pause the suit.

Mr. McMahon is eager to prove Ms. Grant’s claims are false and expose her lies, but did not object to the government’s request to pause the matter in connection with the investigation regarding disclosures at WWE. Following the six-month stay, when his legal team is able to get discovery and depose Ms. Grant and others, the evidence will show the relationship was consensual and Ms. Grant’s allegations are malicious fabrications of a jilted lover.

With the pause, the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration has been denied, along with Grant’s motion to strike comments from McMahon’s filings. However, they were denied “without prejudice,” meaning the motions can be renewed two weeks after the case resumes.

On May 30, Grant agreed to delay the lawsuit at the Justice Department’s request. She filed the lawsuit in January accusing McMahon and Laurinaitis of sexual assault and trafficking, something both have denied.