Vince McMahon Is Accused of Sex Trafficking by Ex-WWE Employee ...

(Bloomberg) -- A former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. employee accused the company’s executive chairman Vince McMahon of sex trafficking and said she was paid “hush money” to stay silent.

Janel Grant said in a lawsuit that she was sexually exploited and degraded by McMahon during his time as chief executive officer. She said she was forced to perform sexual acts in exchange for employment and that she was trafficked to other men at the company by McMahon.

“Unsurprisingly, others at WWE knew what was going on,” Grant’s lawyers said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut. “But instead of intervening to protect Ms. Grant, WWE actively sought to conceal the wrongdoing.”

WWE didn’t immediately return requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the lawsuit.

In January 2022, Grant said she signed a non-disclosure agreement under “immense pressure” and in exchange for payment to stay quiet about McMahon’s misconduct. She was promised $3 million, but never received the full payment, according to the lawsuit.

McMahon retired from WWE in July 2022 after it was announced that he was being investigated by his board for agreements to pay $12 million over the past 16 years to settle allegations of sexual misconduct brought by four women affiliated with the company at different times.

In the lawsuit, Grant said the investigation “was a sham,” and that she was never interviewed.

McMahon returned to WWE in 2023 and oversaw the sale of the company to Endeavor Group. He now serves as executive chairman of the combined company, TKO Group Holdings Inc. 

The lawsuit comes days after Netflix Inc. acquired the exclusive rights to Raw from WWE in a $5 billion deal.

The case is Janel Grant v. World Wrestling Entertainment, 3:24-cv-00090, US District Court, District of Connecticut.

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