WWE (or then-WWF) fans will remember the Vince McMahon “Kiss My Ass” club, but in real life, the TKO Executive Chairman has been accused of even more repugnant behavior.
In a lawsuit filed by a former employee, McMahon is accused of sexual assault, trafficking, and defecating on Janel Grant, who says she spent years enduring emotional and physical abuse at the hands of the wrestling promoter.
The allegations also include that pornographic photos of Grant were sent to WWE employees and at least one unnamed WWE superstar, described as a former UFC champion, and that the promise of sex with Grant was used to lure that star into signing a new deal with the company.
That star has not been accused on wrongdoing in the suit, but Vince McMahon, the WWE, and another high-ranking wrestling exec are named as defendants. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Grant was previously bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement, but alleges that the terms of the agreement were not met, and that the NDA violates multiple laws.
Per a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Cageside Press, Grant alleges she first met Vince McMahon in 2019, when the two resided in the same building. Grant was reeling from the death of her parents, who she had provided care for. With the help of other residents and a building manager, she came into the employ of McMahon, who she claims “pushed Ms. Grant for a physical relationship in return for long-promised employment at WWE.”
Grant was give a position as a administrator-coordinator in the WWE’s legal department, and later promised a Vice President role, though she was required to serve as a Director first. According to Grant, “McMahon recruited individuals to have sexual relations with Ms. Grant and/or with the two of them, directed Ms. Grant to visit Defendant [John] Laurinaitis prior to the start of workdays for sexual encounters, and expected and directed Ms. Grant to engage in sexual activity at the WWE headquarters, even during working hours.”
She alleges that McMahon and Laurinaitis, a senior official with WWE at the time, on one occasion took turns sexually assaulting her, claiming “No means Yes” while one restrained her for the other. On a separate occasion Grant claims she was forced into a threesome with an third unnamed party, and defecated on.
“As one example of McMahon’s extreme depravity, on May 9, 2020, he defecated
on Ms. Grant during a threesome, and then commanded her to continue pleasuring his “friend”— with feces in her hair and running down her back—while McMahon went to the bathroom to shower off. Upon his return from the bathroom, McMahon and his “friend” actively resumed the threesome, which lasted over an hour and a half, while Ms. Grant remained covered in McMahon’s filth. When McMahon’s “friend” left, McMahon ordered her to stay and to continue to sexually gratify him.”
In terms of the NDA, in addition to claiming she was not compensated the proper amount, Grant is requesting “a declaratory judgment that her NDA is invalid under Federal and
State laws and asserts claims other laws, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”
The former WWE employee claims to have sulfured from “sleep disruption, dizziness, exhaustion, rashes, weight loss, hair loss and migraines” as a result of the abuse, which was spread out over a number of years.
TKO Group Holdings was formed in 2023 following the merger of WWE and Zuffa Inc., parent company of the UFC, owned by Endeavor. Vince McMahon, long the power behind WWF/E, has been accused of sexual harassment multiple times in the past, including by former WWF referee Rita Marie, who alleged McMahon raped her in a limousine in 1986 when she refused to perform oral sex on him. She eventually filed a lawsuit against McMahon, which was settled out of court.
