A representative for Janel Grant has commented on the Brock Lesnar return that was surrounded by controversy at WWE SummerSlam.
After 2 years away from TV, Lesnar made a shock appearance at SummerSlam night 2 following the main event on August 3, which saw Cody Rhodes defeat John Cena in a street fight to win back the Undisputed Championship. Rhodes left Cena in the ring alone to soak in the adulation from the fans in MetLife Stadium before Lesnar interrupted and hit an F5 on the former champion.
The reason for Lesnar’s extended hiatus was because he was implicated in the lawsuit filed by Grant against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE that contained allegations of sexual assault and trafficking.
While Lesnar was initially not referred to by name in the original filing, instead being described as a “former UFC Heavyweight Champion”, he was later named in later filings. Passages from the filings that referenced Lesnar included Grant being made to produce sexual content for Lesnar, among other potential exploitative measures:
15. McMahon treated Ms. Grant as a commodity—offering her to other men. In March 2020, McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos of Ms. Grant (including pornographic content he recorded on his cell phone) with other men both inside and outside the company, including with members of the television production “tech” team, executives, producers, and a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract (and ultimately did sign that contract).
27. Even after pushing Ms. Grant out of the Company and muzzling her with an NDA, McMahon continued efforts to exploit her, including attempting to traffic her to a WWE star Brock Lesnar who would be in New York City for a live event and TV taping in March 2022.
224. On or about July 12, 2021, McMahon directed Ms. Grant to create personalized sexual content for Lesnar. McMahon shared the photos with Lesnar and then informed Ms. Grant that “he likes what he sees”
Janel Grant’s Team Issues Statement On Brock Lesnar Return
On August 4, Grant’s team issued the following statement in response to the return, which was published online by Fight Game Media’s Samantha Schipman:
“For far too long, abuse was allowed to thrive under WWE’s leadership. Instead of righting this wrong, WWE has done nothing to ensure those responsible are held accountable. This attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug will backfire. We look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming out in a court of law where they belong but, in the meantime, we refer you back to Janel Grant’s updated complaint, which outlines, in detail, the abuse she endured by McMahon and others while employed at WWE.”
At the time of writing, the lawsuit filed by Grant remains ongoing, but has seen Laurianitis dropped of all charges previously filed against him.
Featured image: WWE
