Two of the unnamed figures in Janel Grant’s sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon have reportedly been identified.
Front Office Sports published an article Monday identifying WWE president Nick Khan and COO Brad Blum as two of the unnamed executives in the lawsuit who helped facilitate the working environment within which Grant alleges McMahon sexually abused her alone and with others.
The executives are identified within the lawsuit simply as Corporate Officer No. 1 and Corporate Officer No. 2. Reporters Tim Marchman, formerly of Vice, John Pollock of Post Wrestling, and Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, say they were able to identify Khan and Blum by “cross-checking the details of the suit against publicly available records like online résumés and corporate filings, as well as information provided by sources familiar with WWE.”
The journalists then received confirmation from Grant’s lawyer Ann Callis that “these names are correct.”
While Front Office Sports notes that neither Khan nor Blum are accused of playing an active role in the abuse Grant claims occurred at McMahon’s hands, their alleged indifference to his behavior would still paint WWE as a place where an unsafe work environment could be allowed to fester at the whims of its former top executive.
WWE provided a statement to the outlet denying that Khan and Blum had any knowledge of the accusations made against McMahon in Grant’s lawsuit:
WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact. Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.
Callis released a statement on behalf of Grant in January stating that she hoped “any doors of secrecy have been blown off their hinges and that fresh air fills the headquarters.” The leadership of TKO, the entity created by the merger of WWE and UFC, were undoubtedly hoping that this would be the case once McMahon resigned amid the fallout from the suit.
The prospect that Khan may have known more than he let on or looked the other way while McMahon committed acts of sexual abuse casts some doubt about that outlook. If nothing else, this latest report suggests a wider range of cultural rot than may have been originally assumed, one that may require more careful investigation and self-reflection for TKO to legitimately cut out.
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