Rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Lil Uzi Vert and Wale supported WWE over the years, but a new lawsuit may make them think twice about it. A former WWE employee sued the wrestling company’s longtime boss Vince McMahon for sexual assault and trafficking on Thursday (January 25).
The plaintiff, Janel Grant, accused McMahon of coercing her into a sexual relationship when she worked for the WWE. Grant’s lawsuit detailed McMahon’s “depraved” actions, including a disturbing allegation of him defecating on her in 2020.
“McMahon also subjected Ms. Grant to acts of extreme cruelty and degradation that caused Ms. Grant to disassociate and/or become numb to reality in order to survive the horrific encounters,” Grant’s lawyers wrote. “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.”
Grant claimed McMahon sexually assaulted her on “numerous occasions,” per court documents obtained by AllHipHop. Grant said McMahon degraded, humiliated, objectified and trafficked her. The lawsuit cited McMahon’s position of power as a key factor in Grant’s abuse, noting how he created a culture of fear and secrecy in the WWE.
“Given McMahon’s omnipotent position at WWE, coercion was inherent in his increasingly depraved sexual demands,” Grant’s attorneys wrote. “Specifically, while McMahon was CEO of WWE and Ms. Grant was employed as an entry-level coordinator in the legal department, 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.”
Grant said she suffered emotional distress with “bouts of PTSD brought on by the conduct engaged in by McMahon.” She sought undisclosed damages and a declaratory judgment deeming her NDA as unenforceable.
WWE was named as a defendant in the lawsuit. UPDATE: McMahon resigned from WWE’s parent company TKO on Friday (January 26).