Board member comments on investigation.
On Thursday, Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon, WWE and former executive John Laurinaitis. In the lawsuit, allegations of sex trafficking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault were brought against McMahon.
Grant, a former employee at WWE’s headquarters, said in the lawsuit that she was abused and sexually exploited by McMahon while he was chief executive. She alleged that McMahon lured her with promises of career advancement, and then he allegedly exploited her and trafficked her to other men inside the company.
In 2022, an investigation by a special committee on the WWE board was conducted against McMahon as they looked into allegations of hush money and sex misconduct. In the lawsuit it is stated that Ms. Grant was never interviewed.
Speaking to the New York Times, Jeff Speed, who led the investigation as a board member, described the investigation as thorough and says they did reach out to Ms. Grant.
“I remain confident in our investigation which included outreach to Ms. Grant and engagement with her lawyer,” Mr. Speed said in an email sent Thursday by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett L.L.P., the law firm hired to represent the committee.
Speed, who left the WWE board in 2023, added that he recognized “the horrific nature of the allegations” in the lawsuit but that he was “not at liberty to comment on what was and was not learned during our investigation.”
McMahon has denied the allegations and said, through a spokesman, that he will vigorously defend himself.
