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World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Vince McMahon is at the center of a new lawsuit, which was filed in a Connecticut federal court on Thursday.
Former employee, Janel Grant, accused the businessman of sexual assault and sex trafficking according to court documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
The lawsuit names McMahon and former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis as defendants.
Grant began working for McMahon at the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut in 2019. She claimed that McMahon pressured her into a sexual relationship with the promise of employment.
She claimed McMahon “showered her with gifts” and during meetings about the job he’s greeted her “in his underwear and repeatedly asked for hugs.”
Once the sexual relationship began between the two, McMahon told her to keep quiet about that aspect and that her position as administrator-coordinator “has to look legit.”
During her time at WWE, Grant said she was assaulted by McMahon and he trafficked her to other employees.
In 2021 McMahon and another WWE executive “took turns sexually assaulting her” in a locked office while others were outside working.
That same year, she claimed McMahon “forced himself on her” in a private locker room at the offices.
Afterward, she claimed his assistant gifted her with $15,000 in Bloomingdale’s gift cards.
The suit alleges McMahon sent nude photos and sexually explicit videos of Grant to other WWE employees, which include executives and talent.
Court documents claim that in 2021, McMahon ordered Grant to “create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar he was trying to re-sign.”
While the documents didn’t name the wrestler, he was described as a UFC fighter and WWE talent.
“People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWE’s biggest names,” the WSJ article claimed.
So far Lesnar has not publicly addressed this.
Documents also say that Grant was ordered by McMahon to have sex with Laurinaitis in his hotel rooms before she started her work day. “I’ve left that hotel feeling bad about myself every time,” Grant told McMahon,” the documents said.
According to the lawsuit, McMahon had Grant sign a non-disclosure agreement after his wife, Linda McMahon, found out about the affair.
She claimed he pressured her to sign the NDA in exchange for a promise of $3 million.
He allegedly warned Grant of “reputational ruin” as he had pornographic content of her.
In February of 2022, Grant signed the NDA, but the payments stopped after she was paid $1 million. “The suit seeks to void the agreement and unspecified financial damages.”
It also “seeks a judgment that the NDA is invalid under state and federal law and compensatory and punitive damages under other laws, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”
The suit also claimed the abuse from McMahon continued even after Grant signed,
Also in 2022, the WWE received an anonymous tip about Grant and McMahon’s relationship, which launched a board investigation that uncovered hush-money payments to other women by McMahon.
It was reported that he agreed to pay more than $12 million over the past 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.
The investigation prompted him to retire from the company in July of 2022 only to rejoin the WWE board in January of 2023.
In September of 2023, the WWE and Endeavor, the parent company of UFC, merged to create the TKO Group. McMahon is now the executive chairman and major shareholder of the company.
Earlier this week, the WWE and Netflix announced a long-term partnership, which will move the company’s flagship show “Monday Night Raw” to the streamer in 2025.
This will be the first time in the company’s history that the show will not be on cable.
KTLA 5 has reached out to TKO Group Holdings for a statement on the lawsuit and is awaiting a response.
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