Vince McMahon was seen publicly earlier this week by the side of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson when the newly appointed TKO Group Holdings Board of Director member rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Despite his brief resurgence backstage at WWE events around WWE WrestleMania 39 last year, McMahon’s appearances publicly have been greatly limited. He appeared with Ari Emanuel and other TKO Group Holdings executives shortly after the merger of WWE and UFC, but his NYSE appearance was his only of note since.
There is good reason for McMahon’s greatly diminished public role in the company. Shortly before his brief retirement in 2022, the Wall Street Journal began releasing reports detailing hush money payments McMahon facilitated to cover alleged sexual misconduct by him and former WWE Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinitis. Once TKO Group Holdings became official, Paul “Triple H” Levesque took full control of WWE’s creative direction, and McMahon reportedly began taking orders directly from Emanuel. In a recent filing, TKO listed McMahon as a liability based on the ongoing investigations into his hush money payments by the SEC and Department of Justice.
The Wall Street Journal released a new report about McMahon today, and it is arguably the most damning yet. Based on documents they have reviewed from a newly filed lawsuit, a former female WWE employee named Janel Grant alleges she was sexually abused and exploited by McMahon. She claims McMahon lured her with promises of career advancement before exploiting her and trafficking her out to other men in the company.
Grant agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement in 2022 in which McMahon agreed to pay $3 million for her silence. An anonymous tip about their relationship is what triggered the board investigation and uncovered the other hush money payments. Grant’s lawsuit states that McMahon ceased to pay beyond the initial $1 million installment and has therefore violated the agreement, and they are seeking unspecified damages.
McMahon and his long-time attorney, Jerry McDevitt, were contacted for comment and declined. WWE was also contacted for comment and did not immediately respond. Initially, when reports of the relationship emerged, a WWE statement said that the relationship was consensual.
Some of the more graphic details alleged in Grant’s complaint are the following:
- On June 15, 2021, Grant alleges McMahon and another executive took her into a private, locked locker room and took turns sexually assaulting her while other staff were working.
- On June 23, 2021, inside a private locker room, McMahon forced himself on her over a massage table. Later that day a staffer delivered $15,000 in Bloomingdale’s gift cards to her office.
- In May 2020, McMahon sent Grant the following text message, “i’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f— U.”
- Grant alleges that McMahon shared nude photos and explicit videos of her without her consent to unnamed WWE employees, executives and stars.
- A July 2020, text message stated other people in WWE wanted to have sex with her after seeing photos of her on McMahon’s phone. McMahon allegedly wrote in a follow-up text, “She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c— down her throat.”
- In July 2021, Grant created “personalized sexual content” for a WWE talent that McMahon was trying to re-sign. The lawsuit refers to them as both a UFC fighter and WWE talent, however, WSJ named the individual as Brock Lesnar based on identification from sources familiar with the matter.
The full, much-lengthier piece, which is worthy of your time to read, can be found at THIS LINK.