Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report about former WWE employee named Janel Grant's lawsuit against WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, WWE Executive Vice President John Laurinaitis, and the corporation itself over allegations that McMahon had groomed, sexually assaulted, and trafficked the accuser.
The allegations were made even more horrific by the lurid, vivid details of the alleged abuse, which named not only McMahon but members of his trusted inner circle, including executives and a high-profile multi-time WWE champion.
McMahon is the founder of World Wrestling Entertainment. Up until the report was released in January, he was the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, a merged company that included both the WWE and the UFC. He became a billionaire after he took over his father's regional Northeast wrestling promotion and turned it into the global behemoth that we know today. He marketed professional wrestling as sports entertainment, which gave it accessibility and enabled mainstream, crossover success—but all his accomplishments have been marred by various allegations about misconduct.
In the aftermath of these allegations, McMahon divested himself of all affiliations to the company. He has also denied the charges, vowing to fight them. Meanwhile, the WWE has been left scrambling to salvage its reputation in the wake of the public downfall of its visionary.
Here is a breakdown of the sexual allegations that were made against Vince McMahon and the WWE.
[Ed. Note: This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse and violent acts against another person. You may find these descriptions to be distressing.]
What was Vince McMahon accused of?
The 67-page lawsuit alleges that McMahon groomed, abused, raped, and sexually trafficked Janel Grant, a former WWE employee. Grant and McMahon lived in the same apartment building in Stamford, Connecticut, and the building's manager introduced the two in 2019. At the time, Grant was in a vulnerable state; her parents, for whom she was a full-time caretaker, had died, and she was unemployed.
McMahon pressured Grant into complicity and silence about the events in the lawsuit; she was told that if she told anyone, she could destroy McMahon and the company, that her reputation would be ruined, and that she might be subject to legal action.
Was the accuser one of the women that McMahon initially paid off?
McMahon agreed to pay four women $12 million in hush money in July 2022. The nondisclosure agreements guaranteed their silence over claims of sexual misconduct and infidelity. McMahon agreed to pay Grant $3 million in total. However, after paying Grant $1 million, McMahon stopped sending any money contrary to the agreement. Grant took that as a violation of the NDA, and she decided to go public with her claims as a result. Fans would likely have never known about these details had McMahon adhered to the requirements in the NDA that his lawyers drafted.
The details are protracted and graphic. We'll go over some of the more notable incidents discussed in the lawsuit. [Ed. Note: Please note that the following are claims made in the lawsuit—they have not been proven in a court of law.]
In a process known as grooming, McMahon allegedly escalated his physical contact from non-threatening, to inappropriate, to sexual and violent. He tested and extended the boundaries of her comfort—by meeting with her in his underwear, for example—and by slowly incorporating sexual talk and roleplay into their conversations. McMahon allegedly sent Grant lavish gifts throughout their interactions, including flower bouquets, VIP access to WWE events, a car, coverage towards surgery and medical appointments, gift cards, and jewelry. These were, on at least one occasion, timed to coincide with the incidences of the alleged rapes.
The relationship between McMahon and Grant started as one that was nurturing and supportive, but McMahon slowly began pushing the boundaries of their relationship by initiating physical contact, giving extravagant gifts, and saying that he "loved" her. The relationship turned sexual, and then it allegedly escalated to rape and degradation.
Grant details numerous incidences of alleged sexual assault in the lawsuit—in which she says she vocally protested on behalf of herself and was ignored. It allegedly resulted in physical injury on multiple occasions, with Grant crying out, "Help," and being physically pinned down during one encounter, in which McMahon and co-defendant Laurinaitis raped Grant in an office at WWE headquarters. In another encounter, McMahon allegedly roleplayed as Brock Lesnar and raped Grant despite her protestations and crying. Grant said that the last time that she and McMahon met in person, he forced her to perform oral sex on him.
McMahon reportedly coerced and pressured Grant to engage in threesomes with himself and other men. The text messages included in the lawsuit also show that he allegedly expressed a desire to watch her with multiple men dominate her at the same time. In the case of Laurinaitis, these threesomes led to individual sexual encounters at McMahon's behest, in which she was to offer herself as "breakfast" to Laurinaitis in the morning. These photos and videos, which were widely circulated among McMahon's colleagues, created an atmosphere of psychological intimidation, out of fear they could be leaked or shared publicly.
During a threesome between McMahon, Grant, and the physical therapist, McMahon allegedly defecated on Grant's head and instructed her to continue for the next 90 minutes without showering or cleaning herself up. He caused physical injury to her genitals, which resulted in bruising, swelling, and incontinence. He often named these sex toys after wrestlers; a black toy would be named after a Black wrestler, and a white toy would be named after a white wrestler. McMahon had sexual fantasies in which he would imagine other WWE Superstars in the room with them.
McMahon allegedly showed sexually explicit photos of Grant to colleagues and other WWE employees, and he instructed her to send additional sexually explicit content to other people in the company. One of those people, according to Wall Street Journal sources, was former WWE and UFC Champion Brock Lesnar, who asked that she send a video of herself urinating. McMahon expressed a desire for Lesnar to have sex with Grant and "rip" her open.
How long did this go on?
McMahon and Grant met in March 2019, and she officially began her employment with WWE in June 2019. She gave notice that she was leaving WWE in February 2022. The last time she saw McMahon in person (when she was allegedly forced to perform oral sex) was in February 2022, after she signed the NDA. In addition to John Laurinaitis, the suit also mentions three WWE employees: WWE Corporate Officer No. 1, WWE Corporate Officer No. 2, and WWE Corporate Officer No. 3. These employees have yet to be identified.
Does McMahon have a history of bad behavior?
This isn’t the first time McMahon has been hit with assault allegations. Former WWE referee Rita Chatterton said that McMahon raped her in a limousine in 1986—a suit was settled in 2023, but the allegation dates back to 1994. A tanning booth attendant said that McMahon groped her and showed her nude pictures of himself in 2006. And a spa manager said that McMahon sexually assaulted her in 2011.
In addition to the real-life allegations over the years, many fans are going back to prior storylines in the company's history and revisiting them with fresh eyes, specifically the ones that involved sexual degradation and humiliation. This includes a storyline in which the character Mr. McMahon made Trish Stratus crawl around on all fours and bark like a dog, and another one in which McMahon had employees "kiss his ass" as a loyalty pledge.
These skits were creepy then, and they're especially creepy now. But at the time, people assumed that this was part of the "Mr. McMahon" character’s schtick.
What has been WWE's reaction to these revelations?
In the immediate aftermath of the lawsuit becoming public, President of WWE Nick Khan announced, "I wanted to inform you that Vince McMahon has tendered his resignation from his positions as TKO Executive Chairman and on the TKO Board of Directors. He will no longer have a role with TKO Group Holdings or WWE."
In the days that followed, WWE's official website removed McMahon's official profile, which is in keeping with WWE's typical response to any controversy—to acknowledge it, erase the offender from the company's narrative, and move forward. Most memorably, the company took great pains to erase WWE Superstar Chris Benoit from every official resource, after he killed his son, his wife, and himself in 2007. We'll see whether the company will implement the same policy for McMahon in the months and years ahead.
Here are some initial, individual reactions from prominent people, both presently and formerly employed by WWE.
Vince McMahon denies the allegations
McMahon released a statement through his lawyer. The statement read: "I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth. I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."
Laurinaitis also released a statement through his lawyer, claiming that he is also a victim. “Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in Court, not the media,” Laurinaitis’ lawyer Edward Brennan told VICE News. “Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out.”
Nikki and Brie Garcia, better known as former WWE Superstars The Bella Twins, also weighed in on the situation. Their stepfather is John Laurinaitis, who married their mother in 2016: "We are shocked and disheartened with the recent allegations against members of the WWE. It has been a lot to process since we found out this past week, just as you all did. This is something we don't stand for or condone from anyone no matter who they are. We want all women to feel safe and supported in the workplace and in their everyday lives."
At the post-Royal Rumble press conference, reporters asked Paul “Triple H” Levesque about WWE's level of culpability. His response has been derided on social media as insufficient. "I’m gonna do exactly what you would expect me to do here. Look, we just had an amazing week,” he said. “A 10-year, $5 billion Netflix deal, Rock joining our board. We just sold out the Royal Rumble, put 48,000 people in Tropicana Field. I choose to focus on the positive. Yes, there’s a negative, but I want to focus on that and just keep it to that."
Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes, son of legendary professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, was also at the press conference and spoke about the situation. He said: "I know as far as the news is concerned, we were finding it out and reading the same things that you guys were reading.” Adding, “You said a dark cloud, it’s certainly… As far as TKO, Nick Khan, the board clearly took it very seriously, acted immediately, and looking at the future, I don’t know the answer to that. I think somewhere is probably a basic tenet of just, this crew, more than ever from a roster standpoint, is very family. Never seen anything like this.”
Former UFC Champion and WWE Women's Champion Ronda Rousey expressed skepticism at the news that McMahon was truly gone, citing that he still had allies in the company: "Bruce Prichard is basically McMahon’s avatar, if he’s still around McMahon still has a hand in the business. McMahon was still running things through Bruce when he was ‘gone’ before.” Pritchard is currently the executive director of TV shows Raw and Smackdown.
Did Netflix back out of the deal?
Netflix recently inked a deal with WWE to show Monday Night Raw on their streaming service. These allegations will not affect the deal. At a recent press conference, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Bela Bajari stated, “He’s gone. So he’s not there. He’s gone," which seems pretty definitive.
Revisiting Stephanie McMahon's Resignation
These allegations put Vince McMahon’s daughter Stephanie's sudden resignation from WWE in January 2023 into perspective. When McMahon "retired" in July 2022, Stephanie served as co-CEO with Nick Khan. But then McMahon orchestrated a comeback by crafting a deal with TKO Groups, and she left the company entirely in January 2023. There are rumors that WWE would like Stephanie to return to the company, now that McMahon is gone for good.
For decades—up until very recently—McMahon was WWE. Other people had creative input or pitched ideas, sure. But the storylines? The scripts? The decision of who would win which match, and who got a push or did not? That was McMahon's singular, creative vision. This vision would border on obsessive—for instance, during the live shows, McMahon would sit backstage with a headset on, and he would yell instructions into the ears of the announcers, telling them what to say at any given moment.
Even when he delegated responsibility—like when he assigned former wrestler and son-in-law Paul “Triple H” Levesque to oversee talent relations and developmental program NXT—it was always with the implicit understanding that he could step in as he saw fit. Imagine Succession's Logan Roy but with more physical violence and body oil.
Aside from being a founder, he also played the character of "Mr. McMahon" in the mid-’90s. The character was the evil owner of the company who handpicked who he wanted to win each match and would cheat and humiliate his employees in pursuit of money and power. As this character, he would step into the ring multiple times to cut a promo, orchestrate an attack on an enemy, and/or have an attack orchestrated on him. He even wrestled on multiple occasions.
There have been multiple times over the years where McMahon is in the ring talking about a real-life event with the actual wrestler or person involved in the real-life event. He'll exaggerate some of the details so that we'll know it's fiction, but there's always that "Is this real?" question lurking in the backs of our heads. A huge part of wrestling is the ability to blur that line—to portray a fictional version of oneself with ”'he volume turned up.”
What does this mean for the WWE moving forward?
They might still have to clean house. McMahon had many loyal employees. Some, like John Laurinaitis, are no longer there. But there may be other high-level WWE employees who need to leave depending on what they knew and when they knew about the allegations.
The government is also involved as he is under federal investigation. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Feb. 2, there has been an active sex trafficking probe of McMahon since 2022. So the situation might get worse before it gets better.
Regardless, it seems like WWE wants to move on and place the McMahon allegations firmly in the past, along with McMahon himself. But will they make the necessary changes to the corporate infrastructure to ensure that a similar bad actor cannot repeat the same pattern of alleged abuse? Time will tell.