Former WWE employee Janel Grant has made a public appearance for the first time since filing a lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE, which accuses the now former Chairman of sexual assault and trafficking.
TRIGGER WARNING – The following article discusses sexual assault and suicide.
Grant’s appearance was at the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence on Friday, February 20. Speaking for approximately 16 minutes, Grant spoke about her experiences in the company, the NDA that she signed, and how her story gained worldwide media coverage. Grant opened her speech by addressing the events that took place in 2022 and how it was published in the Wall Street Journal:
“I really shouldn’t be here. By a series of miracles that I can’t account for, I’m alive today. On June 15 2022, my life was rewritten into someone else’s storyline, and I was globally outed by the Wall Street Journal. […] At any minute, the Wall Street Journal would be publishing a story about me, Vince McMahon, and a non-disclosure agreement. I was told if anybody asks me about this, I can’t make a comment, I can’t acknowldge it, I can’t say I’m not okay, and if anybody approached me, I can’t acknowledge years of life to anybody who saw me live it.”
Grant, who was emotional throughout the speech, also noted that at one point she was in a closet with a belt and a stool under a metal rod, but thanked God that somebody stopped her. Grant also admitted that she felt threatened by what happened, and only went outside 10 times in the past year.
Grant went on to discuss non-disclosure agreements [NDAs]. Grant outlined the intersections associated with the agreement, adding that WWE reached out to request that she make a joint statement that her relationship with Vince McMahon was consensual:
“There are five intersections associated with the NDA; a federal criminal investigation by the DOJ, an SEC investigation, a shareholder suit, a second circuit decision, and my civil suit. The NDA was a tool that Vince could use to justify anything while I remained a victim of exploitation, and in a position for anyone to exploit me.”
She said, “The company reached out and requested that I make a joint statement that this was a consensual relationship and that they wanted to know this to the extent that I needed or wanted something, aka more money on the table. I refused.”
Grant also described the NDA was a way that McMahon could use it as a tool to continue to exploit her:
“This NDA was a tool that Vince could use to justify anything while I remained in a system of exploitation and actually in a position for anyone to exploit me.”
“When an NDA is used to conceal dangerous behavior, it simply relocates the harm to the next employee, the next office, the next victim.”
Grant went on to speak about the investigation and how she spent six figures on participating, and how it turned into an investigation into human trafficking allegations:
“That summer, I spent six figures to participate in their investigation on legal retainers and medical care that saved my life. I preserved my evidence, and I believed I would be interviewed for this investigation and would get my life back. Then, the feds reached out ahead of speaking with me. I was onboarding a new legal team. We gave them my evidence and said to review it in advance. Based on that objective review of hard evidence, communication with people across the company including leadership then and now, that this was now a covert investigation into human trafficking and the criminal misconduct of WWE, Vince McMahon, and this NDA.”
Grant also spoke about the dangers of NDAs in the workplace:
“Workplace safety depends on transparency because when employees cannot speak, patterns can’t be seen. When patterns can’t be seen, they can’t be stopped. When they can’t be stopped, harm spreads. When an NDA is used to conceal dangerous behavior, it simply relocates the harm to the next employee, the next office, the next victim.”
Grant also referenced the love letter that was published in the New York Post, and how it rewrote her life, describing the act as “humiliation and intimidation.” Grant then went on to compare her experiences to a WWE storyline that played out on TV for months, noting that some viewers drew parallels to that storyline and her situation.
Janel Grant Lawsuit Remains Ongoing
Initial allegations were made against Vince McMahon in 2022 when the Board of Directors discovered off-the-books hush money payments made by the former Chairman. The investigation saw McMahon initially retire, but he made his return in early 2023 to start the process of selling WWE, which was eventually bought by the Endeavor group.
In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed by Grant that accused McMahon of multiple graphic accounts of sexual assault and trafficking, with WWE and John Laurinaitis also named as defendants in the case. The allegations led to McMahon resigning for a second time. Laurinaitis has since been dropped from the lawsuit for giving information in exchange. The lawsuit has continued for over 2 years, with the defending parties still seeking arbitration.
