Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE face a lawsuit filed on Thursday by Janel Grant, with McMahon accused of sex trafficking, emotional abuse and sexual assault. In response, TKO, whose board of directors was accompanied by McMahon (who is the board’s executive director) at the New York Stock Exchange this week, has so far issued only a brief statement.
The repercussions are just beginning to play out, including Slim Jim saying it has “paused” its WWE sponsorship in the aftermath of the lawsuit just a day before the Royal Rumble. The company statement said it would “monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what’s best for our brand.”
Now Grant’s side commented for the first time since the lawsuit was filed. Her lawyer, Ann Callis, appeared on Law & Crime to discuss more details, with the following two excerpts discussing the allegations and what Grant hopes to accomplish with the lawsuit (h/t Fightful for transcription):
There is a thing called trauma bonding that people who haven’t studied it, I have just read articles; I’m not a psychiatrist or psychologist, but an attorney. She literally felt caged and imprisoned by Vince McMahon. The escalation of the degrading things that happened to her, it’s important for it to come out. These are facts. These are allegations that we hope to be prove to be true. They are true.
She wants her life back. She wants ownership of her story. She wants to help other victims. This is relatively close in time, 2019 when this unfolded, 2020, and her hope is to help other victims if there are other victims, to come forward because she had the courage and presence of mind to finally get this done and come forward.
Callis concluded with a statement from Grant:
She hopes any doors of secrecy have been blown off their hinges and that fresh air fills the headquarters. She hopes those at the company, past and present, who fear speaking out about harm is a thing of he past. She wishes everyone peace.
WWE is currently experiencing financial repercussions due to the disturbing allegations, with more fallout inevitable as the lawsuit unfolds.