Lawsuit: WWE’s Vince McMahon Accused of Sex Trafficking; Brock Lesnar Named in Report

Former WWE staffer Janel Grant filed a lawsuit Thursday in which she alleged that longtime WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon sexually abused her and sex trafficked her to others within the company.

According to Khadeeja Safdar of the Wall Street Journal, Grant signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2022 under which she agreed to remain silent about her allegations and her relationship with McMahon in exchange for $3 million.

Grant alleges in her lawsuit that payments stopped after an initial $1 million payment, so she is seeking to void the agreement and is suing for unspecified damages.

Additionally, Grant alleges in the lawsuit that McMahon had her “create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar that he was trying to re-sign.” Per Safdar, “The suit didn’t name the professional wrestler, but described him as both a UFC fighter and WWE talent. People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWE’s biggest names.”

In the lawsuit, which names WWE, McMahon and former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis as defendants, Grant alleges that McMahon pressured her into sexual situations and degraded her in exchange for giving her a job at WWE as administrator-coordinator in WWE’s legal department after meeting her in 2019.

Grant states in the lawsuit that in June 2021 McMahon and another executive locked her in her office and took turns sexually assaulting her. She also alleged that days later, McMahon locked her in his private locker room and “forced himself on her.”

McMahon allegedly sent explicit text messages to Grant and to other people within WWE about Grant, and Grant provided screenshots as part of the lawsuit.

In one text, McMahon allegedly wrote to Grant: “i’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f— U.”

McMahon allegedly sent explicit photos of Grant to other people in WWE, and when others at WWE expressed interest in having sex with Grant after seeing photos on his phone, McMahon allegedly texted: “She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c— down her throat.”

Grant alleged that McMahon told her on multiple occasions to go to Laurinaitis’ hotel rooms and have sex with him before workdays.

Regarding Lesnar, Grant alleged that after he signed a new contract, McMahon allegedly texted Grant “that part of the deal was f—ing U.”

McMahon allegedly gave Lesnar Grant’s cellphone number, and Lesnar allegedly asked her to send a video of herself urinating. Lesnar, who is married to former WWE star Sable, allegedly told Grant he wanted to “set a play date” in December 2021, but a snowstorm canceled plans.

Grant said in the lawsuit that McMahon pressured her to sign a nondisclosure agreement in January 2022 when his wife, Linda McMahon, became aware of their relationship.

In July 2022, McMahon retired from WWE after it was reported that he paid multiple women $14.6 million to remain silent about sexual encounters with him and allegations of sexual misconduct.

A WWE board of directors investigation found that McMahon improperly failed to report the payments as business expenses, and he was required to repay the company for the cost of the investigation.

Grant alleges that WWE tried to minimize her allegations of sexual assault by making the investigation more about the payments and how they were reported.

McMahon returned to WWE in January 2023 and helped orchestrate a sale of the company to Endeavor Group Holdings, which also owns the UFC. WWE and the UFC have since merged into a company called TKO Group Holdings, and McMahon is the executive chairman.

On Tuesday, the 78-year-old McMahon was present at the New York Stock Exchange as part of the TKO contingent after it was announced that WWE had reached a reported 10-year, $5 billion deal for Raw to air on Netflix beginning in 2025.

None of McMahon, Laurinaitis or Lesnar have commented on the allegations, but McMahon’s lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, said in 2022 that McMahon had had a consensual relationship with Grant, who hadn’t yet been named at the time.