TRIGGER WARNING
On January 25, a lawsuit was filed by Janel Grant against Vince McMahon, WWE and former executive John Laurinaitis. The lawsuit accuses McMahon of sex trafficking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault.
On April 1, new information came to light as The New York Post publishing "love letters" written by Grant to McMahon in December 2021. Grant's lawyer Ann Callis said that Grant was coerced into writing the letter.
“It was a tactic to intimidate Janel and victim-shame her,” Callis told Brandon Thurston & John Pollock of Wrestlenomics/POST. “Ms. Grant’s letter is multiple pages, includes details of their relationship and indicates she wrote 24 drafts. It makes no sense to coerce someone to write 24 drafts of a multiple-page love letter. For Vince McMahon, it’s further proof of misconduct. Redoing and editing the letter — it wasn’t love, it was fear of repercussions. She [Grant] was, frankly, an emotional prisoner and was asked to [write a love letter] by Vince McMahon. This isn’t a new thing, like, ‘gotcha.' It happens when people are sex trafficked.”
Grant's letter alludes to "Mickey", "Paul", "the Chef", "Brad", "Nick", "Johnny" (no last names), and Vince's assistants (unnamed) as being aware of the relationship between Grant and Vince.
WWE President Nick Khan and COO Brad Blum were previously identified as Corporate Officers in the lawsuit.
Callis told POST/Wrestlenomics the “Paul” whom Grant mentions is Paul Mangieri, who works as an executive assistant for WWE. People familiar with WWE told them Mickey Mangieri also worked as an assistant to McMahon.
McMahon’s attorney in this case, Jessica Taub Rosenberg, “Ms. Grant’s letter is multiple pages, includes details of their relationship and indicates she wrote 24 drafts. It makes no sense to coerce someone to write 24 drafts of a multiple-page love letter. Ms. Grant wrote this love letter to Mr. McMahon. Her attorney is now desperately trying to explain it away because it shows the relationship was consensual and the lawsuit’s allegations are a sham. The false explanation that it was ‘coerced’ is nonsense. Ms. Grant’s letter is just one piece of evidence demonstrating the relationship was consensual and her allegations in the lawsuit are false. There are more pieces of evidence like this to come that will prove her claims are meritless.”
Callis said McMahon, Laurinaitis, have been served a summons, which sets their deadline to respond by mid-May.
Callis said Grant continues to suffer from the trauma of the events she alleges in the lawsuit.
“For someone who because of what happened to her, suffering from PTSD and other ailments, she’s resilient. We’ve been talking on the phone and talking to her a lot recently. So she’s okay," she said.
McMahon has denied the allegations against him and is under federal investigation.
The lawsuit describes, in graphic detail, Grant's account of her interactions with McMahon. Readers can view the lawsuit, which comes with a trigger warning, by clicking here.
Victim Resources:
National Sexual Assault Hotline
Hours: Available 24 hours
1-800-656-4673
