This article features descriptions of sexual abuse and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Attorneys for Janel Grant, the former WWE employee who brought a civil lawsuit against former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon alleging sexual assault and sex trafficking, issued a statement in response to the return of Brock Lesnar during last night’s SummerSlam main event. Lesnar, while not named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, was named as part of the allegations involving McMahon’s sex trafficking of her to other employees, including former co-defendant John Laurinaitis.
Brock Lesnar, who has not been seen on WWE programming since his match against Cody Rhodes at 2023’s SummerSlam, returned to confront John Cena during his retirement tour. When the lawsuit was filed in January 2024, and after the Wall Street Journal confirmed Lesnar’s involvement, he was pulled from all programming, including a scheduled appearance at that weekend’s Royal Rumble. Lesnar has not publicly commented on the allegations or his name being added to the lawsuit.
Read Janel Grant’s Counsel Statement In Full
Following the return of Brock Lesnar at last night’s SummerSlam, counsel for Janel Grant provided the following statement to the media, including The Sportster, calling the return “an attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug”. Read the statement in full below.
For far too long, abuse was allowed to thrive under WWE’s leadership. Instead of righting this wrong, WWE has done nothing to ensure those responsible are held accountable. This attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug will backfire. We look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming out in a court of law where they belong but, in the meantime, we refer you back to Janel Grant’s updated complaint, which outlines, in detail, the abuse she endured by McMahon and others while employed at WWE.
McMahon has denied all allegations in the Grant lawsuit, and requested the case be moved to private arbitration in July. In the wake of the lawsuit, McMahon resigned his position as Executive Chairman of TKO Group Holdings, WWE’s new parent company, in January 2024. John Laurinaitis, McMahon’s former co-defendant in the lawsuit, reached a private settlement with Grant and is now cooperating with counsel on the case against McMahon.
The case against Vince McMahon remains pending as of publication. The entire text of the original lawsuit can be read at this link.
